Super Mario: Tale of the Prognosticus
by Iwatome Toshiki
Summary: It all started with Mario meeting a mysterious girl named Debrie which leads into a new set of adventures for not only Mario, but the rest of the cast. An entirely new Mario Story that features, not only the cast and lore you know and love, but also completely new characters and lore created for the Mario Universe!
1. Chapter 1

_Super Mario and Characters ©︎ Nintendo. Only the Original Characters are my own._

* * *

 _ **Super Mario: Tale of the Prognosticus**_ **(** **スーパーマリオ：予言の運命** **)**

 _ **Chapter 1**_

The Mushroom Kingdom. A Country ruled by none other than Princess 'Toadstool' Peach and filled with Toads across the land. Said Kingdom always gets its hands full due to it always being at war with the neighboring country, the Koopa Kingdom. The aforementioned being ruled by the Great Demon King Koopa, or in simpler terms, King Bowser. Always kidnapping the pink Princess, however, he's also been stopped by the Super Mario Bros., Mario and Luigi from Brooklyn, New York with Italian blood, who have stopped the King's evil plans since the day they found their way into the Mushroom Kingdom. They've gone through many ventures across the new world they so happened to appear in.

The ever famous red plumber could be seen exiting a large building named "Mr. Shy Guy's Auto Parts" as he was told by his brother to get some parts for an important invention that's to be made by Professor E. Gadd.

"20,000 Coins? Mama Mia… What in the world are they even trying to make?"

The plumber said as he let out a sigh. He was asked by Luigi to buy the parts when he exited Coconut Mall. It was certainly unexpected. Mario entered and walk through Toad's Turnpike and all the way back to Toad Town where his home is. It's been pretty lonely in the house ever since Luigi won and moved into his mansion at Evershade Valley. Though, he doesn't let it get to him.

Upon returning back to the town. He entered the plaza area that had the fountain in the middle. There he looked around.

"Right-a… Of course no one would be out and about in the night-a time… Hm?"

When looking around, the plumber saw what seemed to look like a blanket.

"... Is that a blanket? Did-a someone drop it?"

He stepped closer to it and when he did, it suddenly rose up.

"Woh!"

Mario quickly stepped back. Turns out it wasn't really a blanket after all, it was… A girl?

"Nn…"

The girl in white clothing groaned.

"What-a…? What's a girl doing in here in the night-a time…? Hey… You alright-a?"

The girl turned around slowly.

"F-Food… I… I haven't eaten… In a day…"

Mario blinked as, being the kind person he is, looked through his bag of groceries and took out a chocolate bar. The plumber extended his arm out with the candy in the palm of his hand and smiled. The female looked at him with a worried look.

"It's okay… You can have it-a."

Mario said as she slowly grabbed it with both her arms and opened it. She then took a bite of it and then another… then another… until she finally finished it.

"Man, you must've been really hungry if you finished it quickly like that-a."

The girl wiped her mouth. Mario was able to get a better look of her. She was taller than him, maybe about Luigi's height or a centimeter shorter than him. She wore a white robe with light blue markings on the ends of the sleeves which looked like branches from a tree. She had long, black hair and black eyebrows. Her eyes were the same color as Mario's except a bit lighter. What made her eyes different, however, was the fact that they had stars in them. Or rather, one large one in each eye.

The female, thanks to the chocolate and getting some strength back, stood up, put her hands behind her back and smiled.

"My name's Debrie. It's nice to meet you!"

Mario nodded.

"Nice to meet-a you as well, Debrie. I'm Mario!"

He said tipping his cap a bit and then readjusting it.

"Thanks for the food! Or rather candy… same thing right?"

"O-Oh, no need to thank-a me! You could say I was naturally born to be a kind person-a!"

He responds to Debrie while chuckling nervously.

"It's-a not really safe to have a conversation here, especially at night. Why don't-a we head over to my place?"

Mario said. The girl, now known as Debrie, shrugged.

"I don't really mind!"

During the walk to the plumber's dwelling, he asked a few questions.

"What exactly were you doing lying on the floor at the plaza?"

"Well… See… The thing is… I collapsed because I didn't have any more strength to get up. Like I said, I hadn't eaten in a day… And I couldn't go buy anything at the shops because I had no coins…"

Debrie responded before Mario spoke.

"Couldn't've you just asked some of the Toads here? They're pretty friendly."

Debrie became silent as she turned her head to the side and touched her index fingers together while blushing.

"I… I was nervous… and embarrassed… I'm more used to talking to the people back at my village…"

Mario turned to her with an eyebrow raised.

"Village?"

"Yeah! I'm from a village! It's close to Flipside actually."

"Flipside eh? Haha… I've been there before… Man that-a brings back some memories…"

Mario remembers the events that occurred during that specific adventure. Having to wear a plant in order to meet King Croacus, having to pay a large amount of Rupees just to pay for a broken vase, among many other incidents. It really was an intriguing venture.

After awhile, the two had finally made it back to Mario's home, no mistake of it since his name is pretty much nailed onto the top of the door in large letters. Mario opened the door and let the female go inside first. He closed the door once he went inside. Debrie looked around as she then sat on one side of the table in the kitchen. Mario does so as well after pouring himself a cup of coffee before their discussion continued.

"Must've been real interesting huh?... I wish my father, Hagustus, didn't tell me to run as far away from our home... If I hadn't, I would've been able to visit Flipside... But... Now that I think about it... He told me not to go there either..."

"Hagustus?... That name sounds familiar…"

Mario got off his seat and walked to the bookshelf to grab a book. A specific one that talked about a tribe.

"Ah, here it is-a!"

While looking through the pages, Debrie got up from her seat and looked around some more. Mario started reading.

' _... Hagustus is one of the members of the Tribe of Ancients created long ago. To this day, he's the last remaining member of the aforementioned Tribe. It is said that he was also involved in writing the Light Prognosticus…'_

After reading this section, the plumber noticed the markings on Debrie's sleeves glow as he stood up and walked to her.

"Hey, Debrie? What are these markings-a?"

"Hm?"

Debrie looks back at him and then at her arm.

"W-wait! Don't-!"

After he gently poked part of the markings, they glowed even brighter as some sort of force threw him to the wall behind him. A thud was heard when he hit the ground.

"Urgh… Mama-Mia…"

He rubbed the back of his head before adjusting his cap back to the way it was. In front of him however, Debrie was floating in the air while also being slumped over like a puppet. A dark, blue aura surrounded her as Mario stepped closer while covering part of his face with his arm.

"INTRUSION DETECTED. CHAPTER 2, VERSE 23 – THOSE WHO INTRUDE THE ENGRAVED TEXT OF THE LIGHT PROGNOSTICUS MUST PROVE THEY'RE TRUSTFUL BEINGS AND NOT PART OF THE TRIBE OF DARKNESS. DETECTING SOURCE OF INTRUSION..."

The 'puppet-fied' Debrie glanced at the plumber who was still covering a bit of his face with his arm until he stopped said action. The pupils in her light-blue eyes shrink and then return to their original size.

"IDENTIFYING... NAME: MARIO. ONE OF THE HEROES OF LIGHT. THEREFORE HE IS NOT CONSIDERED AN ENEMY AS HE HAS ALREADY PROVED HIMSELF WORTHY."

After "Debrie" had said that statement, the aura surrounding her disappeared and so did the glow of the markings on her hands as she slowly floated downwards. Mario ran over to catch her.

"Debrie!"

The girl's eyelids slowly opened up as she then places her palm on her forehead while groaning.

"That... Was a pretty stupid thing to do, Mario..."

She says with a smile after letting out a small chuckle. Mario lets out a chuckle as well.

"Haha... Yeah... It was-a..."

The plumber had picked her up and taken her to a room that originally belonged to Luigi. Though, after he had left, he took all his things and now it's just an empty room with a bed, desk, empty shelf, and a lamp. Debrie had sat on the edge of the bed since she didn't want to lay down.

"What exactly was-a that back there?"

Debrie looked to the side with a frown.

"Uh- Sorry, I'm sure you probably don't trust me that much yet-a-"

Debrie spoke up.

"No it's fine… You see… My father embedded all of the Light Prognosticus text into me. I agreed to it… I also wanted to ask him why, but… I never got to because he told me to run as far away from the village…"

With a frown, Mario asked a question.

"What happened-a at the village?"

"..."

Debrie looked down as she looked at both her hands.

"When I ran to a safe distance, I looked back and… All I saw was smoke… fire and explosions…"

She closed her eyes and began showing tears; which she wiped away since she didn't want to look like a weak person in front of Mario.

"I want to go back there, I really do, but I'm afraid I might cause even more trouble…"

After saying that, Debrie felt the plumber's hand pat her on the head. She looked at him who was now smiling.

"Hey, I can join you in going back-a there to check! Heck-a, maybe afterwards we can ask Merlon and see if he knows anything-a!"

He says confidently. Debrie objected.

"No! Mario, I don't want to drag you into my problems! It'd be too dangerous!"

"Debrie… Something you need to know about me is that-a I've been in harsh situations before. I'm sure whatever happens-a during this… I'll make it out-a… I always do."

Mario responded to Debrie's objection with a smile and patted her on the back. The female once again looks down at the wooden, brown floor. She smiles but also hides it from the plumber.

"... You really are something… Thank you…"

She tried to stand up, but immediately fell back to the bed.

"Ngh!"

"Woah, there, maybe you should stay the night-a here. You really need the rest especially after what-a happened. I'm sorry for that-a by the way…"

"It's alright, Mario. Really."

She let out a pure smile before slowly laying down on her side. Mario looks at the girl before leaving the room and closing the door behind him. The plumber went back to the kitchen where he had placed the bag of items he bought for himself and the materials he bought for Luigi. He placed all the food in the refrigerator.

He took out parts that looked like they belonged to a go-kart or a vacuum cleaner. Not long after he sighed and put them back in where they belonged.

"I forgot I needed to give these to Luigi and the Professor… Mama-Mia… It's too late now and I can't leave Debrie alone. Not-a saying that she doesn't have the courage to be left alone though…"

At this point he was just talking to himself. An idea popped into his head.

"Well, I can just give it to them before we head off to Merlon's place! Shouldn't take too long-a."

 _ **. . . . .**_

In a concurrent event that took place before Mario met Debrie and before the destruction of her home, a woman in her twenties held a plastic bag with only a few items. She had light-brown colored hair that reaches just to her neck along with brown eyes and eyebrows. Taller than Luigi and Debrie.

She continues walking along the sidewalk near the buildings as two teenagers run in the opposite direction; one of them bumping into her.

"Gh! S-Sorry, Miss!"

The boy said before continuing on his way. The woman sighed.

"Teenagers these days…"

She says to herself.

She continues walking past many buildings and a park before reaching her home. Once she opens the door, she locks it and just tosses the bag on the couch. She then falls onto one of the couches in order to rest her body and fall asleep.

Her peacefulness would soon be interrupted by a purple and black aura that engulfs the whole room which has caused her to wake back up, though she was still on the couch.

"Damn it... I was just about to snooze off... What even is this?"

She wonders while looking at the aura surrounding her. A bright light would then take shape as she blocks it with her arm in order to prevent the bright light from hitting her eyes, despite doing this, it still completely woke her up. Once it dimmed, a figure could be seen, a figure that would be all too familiar if Mario was here.

The individual would let out a small chuckle as they turn their head slowly towards her revealing their white and black mask, the white side showing a small tint of purple.

"Well, well, well... It's a pleasure to finally meet you... Lydia."

* * *

Hello! This is the author of this story here! How did you like the first chapter? I've always wanted to do my own take on a Mario story for awhile now and I'm glad I got to it!

Though… I had already done Chapters 1-9… I decided to start from scratch. It's my first story and one I want to continue while also having it be a "Test Story". You know, a story that will help me see my flaws and see what I need to fix.

I'd really like some feedback from you guys! I mean, I do want to get better and make a Mario story worth a while. Don't know when Chapter 2'll be, but I'll make sure to get to it when I have the time! Until then, see you later!

 **-** _**Signed, Iwatome Toshiki**_ _ **俊樹岩止**_


	2. Chapter 2

_Super Mario and Characters ©︎ Nintendo. Only the Original Characters are my own._

* * *

 ** _Chapter 2_**

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you… Lydia…"

Stated the figure floating in mid-air as they turned their whole body towards Lydia's direction. The woman put a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow.

"Who are you?"

"Oh, me? Hmhm~ No one special."

They say as they slowly decent closer to the ground.

"I guess I'll tell you anyways, I'm Dimentio, the Ruler of Dimensions!"

Lydia looked a bit annoyed.

"Ruler of Dimensions, Huh? Sounds like something a child would say..."

Lydia states with a glare.

"Hmhm... But I'm not. I'm nothing more than just a Jester!~ But enough with the introductions... Do you know why I came here?"

"No. How would I know? Just freaking tell me already, I'm not Matsuda you know."

"No, you're not, but that's beside point."

"Secondly: How do you know my name?"

Dimentio stood silent before continuing.

"... Truth is, Lydia... I've been watching you from afar... Not to just know your name, but to see if you were good enough..."

"Good enough for what?"

Lydia responded. Puzzled and disturbed. She was disgusted and creeped out that she was being stalked by someone.

"To me… It looks like the answer to my "Is she suitable for this?" is… a perfect 'Yes'."

Dimentio snaps his fingers as a type of bubble forms around them. Lydia is pushed back onto the couch and realizes she can't move.

"Gh...! Am... I... Paralyzed or something?"

"Hmhm~ It's just part of my powers. You won't be able to move for awhile."

The Jester then takes out a few pages that seemed to have been ripped out from a larger source. It's in an unreadable language, so Lydia couldn't understand anything on them.

"These pages were originally part of the Dark Prognosticus... However, after I was, quote-on-quote, taken down, the book itself seems to have been destroyed. All that I've currently found are these pages. Do you know about the process of transfusion?"

"... What are you getting at?"

"I can't find the rest of the pages by myself you know. I'll need a little help. What I'm going to do is embed some of the text from these pages into your body. Your body react if you feel anything that's related to the Light Prognosticus. If you do feel something like that, I'd like you to eradicate it."

"Tch. You're making it sound like I agreed to help you."

"Oh, you will help me. You have will no choice~"

Dimentio snaps his fingers once more with the pages and let's out a smile from under his mask as he gets closer to Lydia.

"Don't even dare…! You Bastar-!"

* * *

Back in the present, Mario, with Debrie in tow, leave Toad Town, the plumber with the bag of the parts his brother needed in his hand. The girl looked around before asking Mario a question.

"Hey, Mario, where are we going?"

"To Evershade Valley. It's not that-a far from here. We'll be using the Warp Pipe Services-a, that way it'll be easier. My brother, Luigi, moved to Evershade as he, quote-on-quote, "won" a mansion there. Since then, he's always lived there after he saved-a me and defeated King Boo. There's a reason why his room is empty, it's because he took all of his-a stuff with him."

"You? Getting saved? That sounds kinda weird don't you know? You don't seem like the kind of person to easily get captured..."

"Haha, that's-a what the Princess told-a me too. After that whole mansion incident, both Luigi and-a I were captured by Bowser and then were saved by the Princess herself-a who's the one that keeps getting kidnapped-a. If only I had a coin for every time she was, I'd had enough to pay my rent-a!"

The duo continue their way through Toad Town and then Toad's Turnpike. Once they reach Mushroom City, the plumber leads the way to the Warp Pipe Services building. As always, Debrie looking around. After entering the building, Mario sets some coins on the front desk for the Pianta to collect.

"My first Warp Pipe! This is gonna be so cool!"

Before she steps in, Mario holds her back and shakes his head.

"Let-a me go first."

"Huh? Why? What happened to "Ladies first?"..."

"You don't want me to look up your robe right-a?"

Debrie looks at her robe and blushes.

"O-Oh... Right..."

Mario smiles as he grabs the top of the entrance and swings his way inside. Debrie follows.

"Watch out-a! It's going to be a bumpy ride!"

He states as the female nods.

"Hey, it'll be like a Roller Coaster!"

"Eh, those aren't really bumpy. Besides-a, you mean to tell me you've been to one?"

"Well... Not really... I wish I could!"

The duo go through all the twists and turns before reaching the exit. Mario lands on his feet on the ground and smirks.

"Haha! Got It-!"

"Wahoo!"

Mario becomes shocked a bit as Debrie lands on him, as a result, the plumber gets trapped in the ground after she had landed on him accidentally.

"That was fun!... Huh? Mario? Hey, where are you? Did you leave me already?!"

After frantically looking around, she feels a bump under her as she stands up to check. In her sight is a red cap as Mario, with all his strength jumps out and shakes off all the dirt.

"Mama-Mia..."

Debrie bows as if she was asking for an apology.

"Ah! I'm sorry, Mario!"

She states as the plumber takes off his cap and throws out the dirt that remained.

"It's-a fine... Now I know how Luigi feels-a like..."

Mario approached the top of the hill, Debrie following behind him. The sight of Evershade Valley and it's many mansions come into sight. The female clasped her hands together with a worried expression on her face.

"This place gives me the creeps..."

"No need to be frightened-a!"

He walks down the path leading to the aforementioned valley.

"I mean, there are ghosts-a, but they're not your usual ones-a. As weird as it may sound-a, they're actually pretty nice ones! My brother even has a ghost dog as a pet-a!"

"Whaaaat?! A ghost dog?!"

"Mhm!"

"That's not changing my mind!", Debrie exclaimed.

Upon arriving at his brothers' mansion's doorstep, Mario knocks on the door.

"Luigi! I brought-a your parts!", he says before mumbling to himself.

"That I wasted 2000 coins on-a…"

Just then a person in green opens the door with a smile.

"Mario! Oh! Thanks-a!"

"I'm surprised you asked for them-a and not the Professor."

"Eheheh... E. Gadd has-a been pretty busy lately."

"Has he now?"

Luigi nods. Before he takes the bag from his brothers' hands, he sets his sights on the girl behind him. He scratches his head, normally, Mario wouldn't be traveling with someone who wasn't the Princess, Yellow Toad, Blue Toad or other partners from afar. The green plumber found it unusual, so he began to ask.

"Bro, who's-a this?"

"Oh, her? This is Debrie! I met her yesterday when I found-a her lying in the middle of the plaza back at-a Toad Town. Don't question it-a."

"O...Kay?"

"Pleased to meet you, Luigi!"

"Right! It's-a nice to meet you as well, Debrie! Where are you going-a now, Mario?"

"Well-a, Debrie and I will be heading over to talk with Merlon-a back at Flipside. It's rather important-a, especially for Debrie."

"Merlon eh? It has been awhile since we've seen-a him!"

"Mhm! Well, we need to get-a going, tell the Professor I said hi!"

Luigi gives a thumbs-up.

"No problem-a, Bro!"

Mario and Debrie wave at Luigi as they continue their way to their next destination, Flipside. Hours later, they finally make it to the entrance of Merlon's dwelling, Debrie on the ground as she was tired of walking and really needed something to eat or drink. The plumber knocks as a person in blue opens the door and welcomes them in.

"Ho ho! It's been awhile hasn't it, Mr. Mario?"

"Mhm! It-a has!"

"Well, come on in, I shall make some Tea for-"

Debrie quickly got up and grabbed Merlon's shoulders, shocking him.

"Yes, Please! I'm dying here!"

Awhile later, Merlon sat down after he set the tea in front of his guests. The girl taking the cup and drinking it in one shot.

"Ahh! That hit the spot!"

Mario and Merlon stare in surprise, the former looked at the man across the table in blue and shrugged.

"What brings you to my establishment, Mario? You may need to introduce me to this young one."

"Well-a, this is Debrie. She's-a told me that the text of the Light Prognosticus was embedded into her by her father, Hagustus-a."

"Hagustus? You mean the last true member of the Tribe of Ancients?"

The plumber nods in response to the statement said by Merlon.

"After the transfusion, if I recall what Debrie said, he told her to run as far from their village, but also not to Flipside.", Mario continued. Debrie followed with her own statement.

"Yeah, after I got at a safe distance, there was fire and smoke everywhere. Even a few explosions."

Merlon closed his eyes and then opened them.

"Hm... So... He finally managed to do it..."

The duo look at each other and then back at Merlon.

"What do you mean-a?"

"You see... The transfusion... It takes a lot of research to know how to do it perfectly. However, even one wrong move Hagustus would've died right then and there. It's an extremely dangerous process that not even his kind were brave enough to do it. So what happened to him, Debrie?"

Debrie looks down and back up.

"Mario and I are planning to head back there to see! I want to know if my father survived! Maybe even look for others while doing so!", she said confidently.

"That's your plan eh? From what I've heard... The person who invaded your town had immense power. Power that was similar to the Dark Prognosticus."

Mario stood up and slammed his hands on the table.

"What-a?! You can't be serious, Merlon! We destroyed that-a thing years ago! How did someone manage to use it-a?!"

"What if... Someone embedded some of the text into someone else?"

Mario looked terrified. He never thought of that idea. Who can blame him?

"Question is... Who would it be?", the figure in blue continued.

Mario and Merlon look at each other. They only know of one person who can use the Dark Prognosticus properly.

"...", the two stayed in silence before the plumber spoke.

"That's right..."

"Are we sure he didn't-a die? Think back, Mario. Did you actually see him die?", Merlon asked him.

"!", Mario got lost in thought. They took _him_ down, but… did they really?

Debrie looked intently at the two before breaking the silence.

"You guys keep talking about this guy yet you haven't even told me about him!"

Mario sits back down and cross his arms while closing his eyes as he speaks.

"The one we're referring-a to is... Dimentio... King of Dimensions. My brother, the Princess and Bowser defeated-a him years back. He was the true cause behind the incident back-a then, he betrayed Count Bleck-a and his other minions, only using them as puppets-a. After his defeat, we all just... forgot about-a him, since we thought he was done for good. So we thought-a... But now that there's a possibility that he's still out-a there... and the fact that he's possibly already inputted the book's text into someone... That doesn't-a sound like a very good combination..."

"But if that is true... Why would he send someone to my home?", Debrie asked with a worried looked.

Mario then opens his eyes.

"Possibly to find anything relating to the Light Prognosticus and either obliterate it or use it for himself. In other words-a, you would be a target."

The plumber says as he looked at the female.

"... So... Would my father be under that category? He's related to the Light Prognosticus in a way isn't he?"

"Probably-a... For right now, let's go check your village. For all we know, they might go back and double check the grounds-a."

The plumber hops off the chair and heads straight for the door.

"We'll be back if we find any new information-a, Merlon."

Debrie follows the plumber as she closes the door to the building.

"... Just be safe you two...", Merlon says before turning his head to the drawer where he originally had put the Light Prognosticus.

Upon leaving the establishment, Mario asks Debrie to now lead the way to her original home, She obliges. The plumber in red takes out his metal hammer and rests it on his shoulder just in case something comes up while being there. Once they reached their destination, all that was seen were the obliterated buildings. Everything in ruins as the plumber looked around in shock, Debrie started tearing up a bit. Mario patted her head.

"Come on-a, no time for-a crying. We came here to find survivors you know?"

"... What if there aren't none? What if we came here for no reason?"

Mario sighed.

"Giving up isn't an option. That was-a really cliché, I'm sorry haha. Come on."

The girl wiped off her tears and followed the red plumber around to find survivors. Even if there aren't any, at least to Mario, they tried. The area was so ruined that anyone would think it'd be like looking at a place after an apocalyptic disaster. After much investigation, Mario turns at the corner, at the corner of his eye however, he sees a figure, a woman looking like she's trying to find something of importance. Mario gulps and reluctantly steps closer with his hammer at the ready.

"Hey! What are you doing-a here?"

His voice reaches the figure as they slowly turn their head around.

"Hm? Oh… _*Sigh*_ I could ask you the same thing.", they said.

The plumber stared at the woman. Who exactly is this female? and more importantly why is someone like her here of all places? Mario wonders if she has something to do with the events that resided here.

"I'm going to ask again-a! What are you doing here?"

The woman moves her light brown/chestnut colored hair to the side before jumping down to Mario's level which causes a small shockwave that also brings out black and purple effects.

"... Man, he said I wouldn't run into anyone here... But... Guess he was wrong."

"Avoiding-a the question eh?"

"To answer that, I'm here on just a small mission. Or rather... Just here to double check. You know, obliterating the town was kind of tiresome…"

Once Mario heard this, he turned to Debrie who was in shock. She had placed her hands on her mouth and had an expression of that of someone who just lost someone dear. Debrie slowly stepped back.

"Y-You... What...?", Debrie said. Completely devastated.

"I destroyed this town. Only because he told me to..."

"...", Debrie stood still.

"Wait a minute! Exactly who told-a you to?!"

The woman dusts off the dirt from her hands.

"From a guy that had some sort of white and black mask. Forgot his name... Dementia? Something like that..."

"... So... He _is_ back... From what we saw earlier I assume-"

"What? That black and purple stuff? Yeah, that brat embedded some text of the Dark Prognosticus or whatever into me."

"!... Debrie? I'd like for you to stay back and hide..."

Debrie, still in shock, looks at the hero.

"What, but-!"

"Now! You have-"

"She has the Light Prognosticus embedded into her doesn't she?"

"!... How'd you-?"

"It's not that hard to figure out, I know what things are related to that Light Prognosticus. All because of my own ability telling me about it. I'm just here to find pages of the Dark book for him. However, with you in the way... Trying to protect this girl who has the Light book in her... I'd like for you both to leave now. I don't want to hurt you two... I didn't want to be part of this in the first place... I was just invited to this party all because of that damn bastard who forced me into his plans. The fact that I receive a migraine every time I'm close to something relating to the Dark or Light Prognosticus has already gotten me to hate him more."

"... Why don't you just quit-a then?", The plumber asked.

"I wish it was that easy... Says that if I don't follow his stupid rules, he'll just find a way to get me to follow them."

"You haven't reacted one bit-a though…"

"Hm?"

"I'm actually one of the Heroes of Light that's mentioned-a in the Light Prognosticus..."

"What?! Why I haven't reacted is a good question... Maybe it's because I'm holding back. Trying to make the powers not react. It's more difficult than it sounds. They take awhile to check my surroundings for anything related to them or their Light counterpart."

"But-a-"

"... Thanks for the concern, but I don't think you have enough power to defeat-"

"I defeated him years ago... If I can do that, I surely can do it again-a."

"..."

Before she was even able to respond, her eyes widen as she places one of her hands on one side of her face as she gets surrounded by a black aura.

"Ngh... Gh..."

"!"

Mario tries to get closer, but is greeted by the palm of the Lydia's hand which forces him to stop.

"D-Don't get... In the way... Leave... Both of you... I don't want to hurt you both. I don't want you to get involved with his plans..."

"... That's the thing… we've already entered them a long time ago...", Mario replied as the woman continued.

"I... Told you..."

She states as she covers her face with both hands before leaning back at the same time.

"LEEEEAAVE!"

Just then, strong gusts of wind engulfed the whole area, Debrie ran behind a building to hide and protect herself. Mario dug his hammer into the ground to stop him from getting blown away. The same auras from before surround her before she stands on the ground again. Markings appearing on her arms.

"AAAAGGH!"

The gusts of wind dissipate as the plumber takes his weapon out from the ground and then looks at the female.

"Hah... Hah... It finally detected you... I warned you about this... Please… Forgive me..."

Her eyes widen and close before opening again and speaking in some similar way as Debrie did with Mario when he touched the markings on her hand.

"No pages found. Location of two separate entities within a few miles. Mario: Hero of Light confirmed to be the being in front of me. The so called girl, Debrie contains text of the rival to this Prognosticus therefore all humans related to the Light side must perish."

The woman, now taken over by the Dark Prognosticus, then swings her right hand to the side as black and purple auras get drawn toward it in order to create a sword-like weapon as they get in a fighting stance. The plumber also readies his hammer as Debrie just watches.

"Mario!", Debrie yelled the plumber's name, worried about his safety as she doesn't want to lose someone close to her again. Mario was too lost in thought and too focused on his situation.

"She's in there somewhere... I just need-a to take her current state down."

Mario and the possessed Lydia trade glares as he smirks.

"I hope you're ready, because I'm bringing her back-a!"

"..."

The plumber and the female then charge toward each other as they both swing their weapons. The hammer and the sword clash as sparks flew from the blade of the latter weapon. They both try their best to push the other back before they retract their weapons and then continue the battle with multiple swings to the other end. The clangs of the hammer and sword ring throughout the area, the plumber finally landing the first hit which sends Lydia a few feet back. Lydia creates a fireball type of projectile and throws them towards the plumber at fast speeds.

"Woh- OOF!"

The attack would throw Mario towards a wall of one of the buildings as he falls back down to the ground and rolls to the side before another projectile impacts the ground he originally was on. After getting back up he cleans the sweat off his forehead.

"Two can play in that-a game!"

Just like Lydia, Mario engulfs his hands in fire before sending about three to four fireballs at his opponent... Which are quickly blown into pieces by Lydia's own. This causes a large area of smoke to appear as the hero in red twirls his hammer and enters the smoky area in order to give a surprise attack. Unfortunately, his opponent makes her abilities move the smoke out of the way which reveals his position.

"... Man! I saw this in the movies-a! Why didn't it wo- Oof-a!"

Before he finished his sentence, he is grabbed and thrown to the ground.

"Ok, that was sort of a dumb decision-a… Mama-Mia... I knew it was going to be a tough fight-a, but..."

He says as he stands back up to his feet while trying to come up with a different plan.

"If I use my fireballs, she'll just hit them-a which will cause more smoke to appear... Hm... What if-a...instead of going through the smoke, I go around it... That-a way, even when she moves it out of the way, she won't have anyone to attack-a. I'll be able to land a hit."

He states as he looks at his hammer before dropping it.

"Alright-a, I won't be needing this... Let's-a go."

Mario once again engulfs his hands with fire as he shoots approximately the same amount as he did last time. The woman then uses her own projectiles to stop them in their tracks which, according to plan, causes more smoke. The plumber smirks as he runs around the exterior of the smoke cloud to where Lydia is. As the smoke clears, the female is confused until she heard footsteps to her left.

"!"

"Gotcha!"

Mario's arm is engulfed by fire once again as he changes his hand into a fist and punches his opponent on her side which sends her flying towards a building, said building receives cracks on it's surface as she falls to the ground. However, on Mario's side, when he hit Lydia, since she had an aura around her, it also damaged the plumber as it also sent him a few feet back, him scraping the ground. Debrie then takes a look around the corner of the building, small amounts of smoke still surrounding the area in which she saw the battle occur. On one side, she saw Mario's opponent, on the other, it was him. The girl quickly ran towards the plumber and tried to help him up.

"Mario! Hey! Come on! Stand up!"

After saying those words, Mario, with the strength he currently had, stood up, his clothes dirty from sliding on the ground after the impact.

"... Man... What a battle... So that's what the Dark Prognosticus does-a..."

The plumber states while putting his right arm on his left shoulder. From afar, he saw that the aura that surrounded Lydia had disappeared.

"She went down easily… Probably because she doesn't-a have the whole manuscript in her-a…", Mario says as he started to slowly walk towards her.

"You don't mean to tell me you're actually going to help her?!", Debrie exclaims, s bit infuriated.

"Of course I am-a, Debrie."

"But she destroyed my town! Why would you-"

"She's-a not an enemy... I'm sure she'll apologize. After all-a... She was truly concerned for our safety and-a also... She was brought into this mess by Dimentio... We're going to help her-a. She didn't mean to do harm to anyone, it's not really her fault…"

He continues talking as he looks down at the injured Lydia.

"... In the end… she was just-a scared..."

"...", Debrie stood silently.

"She's just gonna have to do something so that way you can trust-a her. We can make her our ally... That's what you want too, don't-a lie."

"..."

Debrie continued staying silent, a bit of hatred went away, but she still disliked her very much. Mario slowly picked her up as he puts her left arm around him to help the woman up, she could still stand as he starts walking slowly with Debrie following. Lydia opens her eyes slowly, also not fully, and looks at him who was still focused on carrying her and walking.

"...W-why?", the woman questioned the plumber's decisions.

"Why not-a? I'd rather make friends than enemies-a... I assume you'll be able to control your abilities-a? It'd be interesting to have someone with Dark Prognosticus powers on our side haha!"

He chuckles once more as Lydia looks down.

"But I... I destroyed her town... She probably hates me because of it..."

"You just-a need to redeem yourself-a!... You know, come to think about it-a, I… We, never got your name."

"... Lydia... It's... Lydia..."

"Pleasure to meet you and have you by our side, Lydia! Name's Mario!"

Both Mario and Lydia smile.

"You... You really are something… Mario."

The plumber smiles as he closes his eyes before opening them. He continues helping her across the way.

"We're gonna stop Dimentio. My brother, other friends and I did it once. We will do it-a again."

Lydia had already closed her eyes as she needed some rest. Mario looks at Debrie and smiles, the three of them head their way back to Flipside. The girl still saddened that she didn't find anyone, not even her father. However, she's sure that he would've liked Mario and his crew just for taking care of his daughter.

The trio continue along the path back. That's one more ally added to their group. Mario's proud of this accomplishment, he already knows that Debrie and Lydia will become friends soon enough, even if it takes awhile, as long as they get along.

* * *

Concurrently, back at Midnight City, a male with black hair, a brown jacket and a black shirt underneath it, walks across the sidewalk with an angry expression and a devilish grin across his face, people murmur while also keeping their distance from him.

"It's him..."

"Aichi Nakajima is it?"

"Yeah.. Keep your distance from him, you don't want to anger someone like him."

"His ability is Deep Space right? That alone has me frightened..."

The voices continue as the male who's identified as Aichi Nakajima stops in his tracks upon seeing the person he was looking for.

"KURUSHIMA KANZAAAAKIIII!"

Far from him, stood someone with silver hair. They wore a white, zipped up jacket with a hoodie, gray outlines at the sleeve ends and around the zipper, a white shirt underneath it. They also had on gray pants and shoes. The figure turned around with their hands still in their pockets and with a sort of laid back expression.

"I have a bone to pick with you!"

He states as a portal opens up next to him which sends out a bicycle at fast speeds towards the one named Kurushima Kanzaki who just swiftly dodges, still in his relaxed mood.

"What do you want this time… Nakajima...?"

Kurushima asks as he and Aichi glare at each other, people around them scattering in order to avoid getting wrapped up in the mess. A _Rank 7 Inducer_ … with another _Rank 7 Inducer_.


	3. Chapter 3

_Super Mario and Characters ©︎ Nintendo. Only the Original Characters are my own._

* * *

 _ **Chapter 3**_

Nico Kojo (古城 ニコ), a high school boy in his teens with black hair and eyes. He wears a black jacket and an orange shirt, though he always changes it depending on his mood.

Holding on to his school related things in his bag, while walking to school, he passes by a group of people who were forming a circle, in the middle being Kurushima Kanzaki (神崎 来島) and Aichi Nakajima (中島 愛知), two Rank 7 Inducers looking as if they were ready to fight. However, Kurushima didn't look like he wanted to.

"What do I want?! Well, I want a fight! You always find a stupid excuse to try and not battle me! What? You afraid you might lose?"

Aichi states with a grin across his face. Kurushima sighs.

"I'd rather not, Nakajima. You really want to fight here where you might injure innocent people? I can't stand people like that. You always try to pick a fight at the wrong place and the wrong time."

"Tch. Fine. Let's take it outside the city!"

"No. I'm good. I'd fight you, but that'd actually be offense to those who actually deserve my time and effort."

Aichi's grin disappeared as his expression changed to more of a ticked off one as Kurushima would turn around and walk off.

"You little-!"

People moved aside in order to let the silver haired male pass. Nico catches up to him.

"Hey! Kurushima!"

"Hm? Oh, Hey, Kojo."

"Still at it with you huh?"

"Yeah. He makes being a Rank 7 suck. Always trying to fight every high ranked inducer."

An Inducer (誘導物質). Someone who was born with special abilities. It's far different from someone who earns their abilities. There are Seven Ranks with only six Rank 7 Inducers. Kurushima Kanzaki and Aichi Nakajima being two of them. Inducers rank up when they train, research or surpass their current rank's limit. Nico is only a third rank and was born with ice abilities which let him form ice-type weapons and survive cold conditions.

Inducers, when undergoing the special annual program are named "Inducer Ranker No. [Person's Rank Here]" (誘導物質階級の). In Nico's case, he's "Inducer Ranker No. 3 'Ice Rush' (誘導物質階級の三「氷突進」).

"Somehow I'm kinda glad that I'm not at your rank ahaha..."

Nico nervously chuckled after replying with that. The two continued making their way toward their school. However, upon reaching the entrance, a girl with black hair approached the two, mainly Kurushima, in an annoyed mood.

"You're late! Oh, I hope you haven't forgotten that you have to give me some money for some things."

"Hmph. I can come whenever I want, Airi. Just because you're my young step-sister doesn't mean you can boss me around. Maybe you should actually get a job instead of asking me to give you some."

To Nico, it was obvious that these two, who were apparently stepsiblings, didn't really like each other.

"I have no time for this, Airi."

Kurushima responds, him walking away from her. She stomps her foot down.

"Grr..."

She then glares at Nico.

"...What are you staring at?"

"Uh... O-Oh! Nothing! Nothing at all! Haha... ha…"

He nervously laughs as he enters through the front entrance and exhales before going to his class. There, once he entered, he was greeted by a familiar voice, said voice belonged to his old childhood friend, Aihara Kendo (剣道 相原). A girl with blue hair in a pony-tail and also dark blue eyes.

"You're here!"

She proceeded to hug him, everyone in the class staring.

"Aihara? Everyone's staring..."

She knows it was probably embarrassing for him so she ended the hug and smiles. Some of the guys a bit jealous. Aihara would always be asked to go on a date, but she'd always reject politely as she was interested in someone else. Even though she was Nico's childhood friend, she never really had any romantic interest in him, nor did he to her.

Nico was abandoned by his father as he already had enough issues to deal with and didn't want to spend extra money on him, his mother died during childbirth which was part of his issues. An orphanage took him in and that's where he lived. When he was told why he was abandoned, he hated his father, he hopes to never see him again. Aihara's grandmother owned the orphanage and that's how he met her. They always talked to each other and helped Aihara's grandmother with the place. Once they were old enough, they moved out to get their own apartments. Though, they always check up on Aihara's grandmother to see how she's holding up. To the grandmother, Nico was, and in fact still is, like a grandson to her.

Hours passed as the school day finished. Aihara stopped at the front entrance.

"Hey, Nico? Is it alright if you can go check the mall to see if they have Book 5 of Super Luigi?"

"Huh? Can't you just-"

"I'm gonna be busy, I'm going to go check up on my grandma... You don't have to do the favor you know!"

He sighs before responding.

"Sure, I'll go check. Can't you just buy it off of the Internet though?"

He says as the two continue walking after exiting the school gates.

"Are you implying I should waste tons of money on it online?"

"Well... It'd be easier... That way you don't have to check every single day..."

"Excuse me, Nico! I'm not buying it off the Internet! eShroom and Forest have copies that go well over a whopping thousand coins!"

His eyes widen.

"What?! A Thousand coins?! No way!"

"Mhm Mhm! A thousand coins! I can't even save up because I need to pay off a bit of my rent and buy school books and agh! Super Luigi Book 5 is the rarest one of them all for that reason especially!"

"Wh-what about the Barnes and Toad's website?", Nico asked. Aihara shook her head.

"Nope. They say that they won't get it because of low stock."

He sighs and then nervously smiles. The two talk and talk until they go their separate ways. The boy going towards the mall to check if they have the fifth book of the so-called "Super Luigi" series.

On the fourth floor, he looks around the bookstore looking for fifth volume. Outside on a bench, sat down a figure with sunglasses and a small device. Said figure pushed down one of the buttons as around the floor, beeps were heard. The beeps got faster and faster.

Further away, sat Lydia, the light chestnut-hair colored woman. She, like the others, stood confused while hearing the continuous beeps. After one of the noises, the last thing heard and seen was an explosion on one side of the floor. Lydia knew what was happening, she knew more would be coming. She quickly stood up and swung her arms to the sides which sent out purple and black auras in order to create a type of protective shield. The shield was large enough to hold in and protect the area she was in and the civilians.

The bombs set would not only damage the floor, but obviously the stores. Mirrors shattered, pillars broke apart, among other disasters. After the explosions died down, sirens were heard as Lydia deactivated her ability after clearing out a bit of smoke. She looked around the area in order to see if she could find any survivors. Most of the people only received small injuries.

Lydia would break through a window and use her ability once again to make a ladder to the bottom as she lead people go down one by one. As the last one went down, Lydia checked once more around the floor. Once she passed by a section of the area, she noticed a boy under some rubble, not even making any movement. She quickly ran over to the male, picked up the rubble that trampled him, and threw them to the side before checking his pulse.

"Still alive... Be strong, kiddo..."

Lydia states as she picks him up and jumps down to the very bottom where everybody was. Some raced in with a stretcher, Lydia placing the male onto it and jumps into the vehicle along with the others as it raced to the nearest clinic.

Hours passed as Lydia sat and waited in the lobby before she was finally told it was okay to visit the boy. Lydia entered the room and sat down on the chair that was placed next to the bed. She looked at him until he finally woke up and slowly sat up straight.

"How you holding up, kid?"

"... Last thing I remember was being crushed or something..."

"Bob-Omb's... They exploded. I rescued you from under the rubble. Doctor said they were going to call your parents-"

"Call them and tell them don't."

"... Why? Your parents need to pay for your medical bill-"

"They won't... my... my mother passed away during childbirth. After that, my dad abandoned me because he thought I'd be too much trouble. He had lots more issues to deal with... I don't think he will pay in order to help me…"

For talking to a stranger, he seemed cool with it. He's never met Lydia before and he seems to be taking it politely.

As Lydia listened to his backstory, she slowly took out an envelope she had opened before she visited the mall.

"I just got my check. 15,000 Coins…"

She smiles as she remembers she still needs to do something in order to redeem herself. Lydia stood up and was about to leave.

"... Miss, you don't have to-"

"I'd rather help a life, kid. I'll go pay your bill off. Everything will be alright…"

"Wait! What's… Your name?"

"... Lydia."

She says with a smile before leaving the room. Nico looked down and then laid on his back again, looking at the ceiling from then on.

Outside, Lydia talked with the Doctor as she gave him the coins they needed as the Doctor spoke.

"You his Mother?"

"... I will be... Any place to register in order to be his mother?"

She responds. She should've asked Nico originally, however, she wanted it to be a surprise. Deep down, she felt bad about what he told her. In the end, she thought of adopting him and taking him in as her own son.

Once again, hours passed as Nico continued looking out the window. Just then, the door to his room opened, the woman he knew as Lydia, came in and gave him a folder.

"I already paid it off. Didn't cost much so I still have some coins in my check."

Nico looked at her and then opened the folder.

 _Citizen Folder - Nico Kojo (_ _古城 ニコ_ _)_

 _Parents – Miu Kojo (Mother; Deceased), Nobuyashi Kojo (Father)_

Nico continued through all the papers in the folder then looked at the woman.

"Surprise."

"I... I don't deserve this..."

Nico was silent, he didn't know how to feel about this, he was afraid if he had her as his new parent, he would lose her. He remembered what his mother looked like as he then started to tear up. Lydia smiles and went to the side of the bed and hugged him.

"You're a strong kid, you know that?"

"Hey... Lydia.."

"?"

"Thank you... Thank you so much Mom..."

Nico held in his new guardian's hug. Sometimes, he felt lonely, not being able to talk to one of his own blood related parents. He hated his father which is why he doesn't talk with him. He was happy, someone actually took him in... He'll finally have someone to come home to, even if he is just in his late teens. Lydia smiles once more and rubs his head. Maybe she'll tell him about what she's done awhile back. Obviously, she needs to tell him about the power she has embedded into her. To sort of almost ruining the mood, she receives a message from Mario. After looking opening her phone, she closes it again.

"When you heal, go get your things. I have an extra room back at my place."

Lydia let's go of the hug and let's him keep the papers before leaving the room. Lydia passes by a girl who then ran into Nico's room, once she did, her loud voice was heard.

"Are you okay, Nico?! Are you?! You're worried me, you goofball!"

"Ahh! Wait! I'm still injured here!"

Lydia smiles, no need to check up on him as the girl is probably a friend of his. Inside the room, Aihara stop shaking him.

"It's my fault... I was the one who told you to go there..."

"... Hey... It's alright. You didn't know what was going to happen."

Kendo sees the folder he was holding on to.

"What's that?", she asks.

"Hm? Oh... This... Papers I'm proud of..."

He states with a smile as they get taken away by Aihara as she looks at them.

"Hey-!"

"... Did this actually happen?"

"Yeah... Lydia's a good person. She payed off the necessary amount to the hospital."

"I just think things are escalating too quickly...", Aihara responded.

"Haha... I'll be moving in with her actually. It'd be easier for the both of us."

Aihara sits down and smiles while looking at the folder. She closed it before standing back up.

"No need to be sulky about this! Not like we're not gonna see each other ever again! Plus, I still need to find that fifth book!"

She says as she points at the window with a grin. Nico's just happy she's back in her bubbly mood... Before realizing something, he opened the drawer, a nurse told him that his things were placed inside there. He digs through the drawer before taking out a bag and showing it to his childhood friend.

"No need, Aihara. I got you!"

She turns around as her eyes glistened and widened before taking it from his hands and holding it tight.

"The search is over! Ahaha! The search is over! No more everyday mall checking! Ehehehe!"

She squeals ecstatically as she opens the book and goes through the pages. Nico rests his head on one hand while looking at the excited female. Aihara proceeds to hug him so tight.

"Agh... Ai...hara...!"

"Oh, sorry! I'm just- thank you! I guess this is one good thing that came out from this..."

"Yeah. You can say that."

Over on Lydia's side, she was talking to Mario through the phone.

"So that's it huh?", she replied to one of Mario's comments.

"Yeah. Merlon-a says that we should talk to Merlee. She should-a have some idea on how to stop Dimentio."

"Gloom Valley is ways off isn't it?"

"Yeah, but it shouldn't-a take too long. Let's discuss this at the café shall-a we?"

"Whatever floats your boat."

She hung up. Why discuss it at the café? Probably because Debrie's always hungry. Lydia continues walking until she finally meets up with the plumber and girl in robes half an hour later as they enter the building. Once they took their seats, the plumber continued talking from where they left off over the phone as they waited for their food.

"As I was saying-a, Merlee should have an idea on how to stop Dimentio in getting more power. Though we need to be careful of going there... Who knows-a, we might run into some of his minions when we try to go to her mansion."

As soon as Mario finished his statement, a familiar green girl in a maid outfit came up to their table.

"You talking about Merlee's Mansion?"

The girl said as she was a few inches from touching the plumber's face. Mario jumped back in surprise.

"Woh! M-M-Mimi?!"

She stood up correctly after setting down their food.

Who else would know about Merlee's Mansion, you dolt."

"That-a last part wasn't necessary! Why are you here anyways-a?"

"I work here, Duh! Can't you see my wonderful maid outfit?"

She twirls around before winking.

"Can't believe they actually let someone like you work-a here..."

"What was that?!"

"Nothing-a."

Mimi huffs and crosses her arms as she left to get last food orders for the other people.

Lydia sighs as she then looks at the plumber.

"She a friend of yours?", Mario also sighs before responding.

"You could say that. She and-a I, along with some others, sort of-a have a history together."

Debrie takes a bite at her food and swallows it before speaking.

"What kind of history?"

"Well-a. She and a few of her own friends actually helped an enemy of ours-a. However, in the end, Dimentio used them all as if they were his puppets. Count Bleck, or rather... Lord Blumiere was the group's original leader. He and his allies came to our side so we could stop Dimentio. So we did. After his defeat-a though, he and a good friend of mine Tippi, or Lady Timpani, who was originally a human turned into a pixl, turned back into a human-a. She and Bleck left somewhere peaceful. Haven't seen-a much of them since then-a. Mimi, Nastasia and O'Chunks had a change of heart and became nicer people. Nastasia and O'Chunks-a being the other two members-a. That's what I meant by history."

"Sounds like it was a difficult journey.", States Lydia after she took a bite of her own food.

"It was-a. Also a rather... Interesting one... By the way, how have you been holding up, Lydia?"

"Pretty good. Able to control my powers for good. Helped people escape a building that was damaged by Bob-Omb's."

Oh yeah, that was-*nom*-on the news wasn't it?", Debrie responded to her statement.

"Yeah. Found an injured boy in the aftermath too. Took him to the hospital and actually paid the necessary amount."

"Don't the parents-a do that stuff?"

"... Kid told me his mother passed away and his father abandoned him as he didn't want to have any more issues. Probably grew up in an orphanage. I felt kinda bad for him... So I took him in as if he were my own son."

"Really?! Wow that-a was fast. (Maybe a little _too_ fast-a…)"

"I couldn't help it, Mario. It felt like I had to..."

"Well-a... Least he has someone to go back home to."

"His name is Nico Kojo from what I saw on the papers."

"Nico… Kojo eh?"

Debrie, after finishing her own plate(s), speaks.

"Hey, you should introduce us to him some time!"

"I'll try. Once he heals, he's going to move into my home. There's an extra room there so."

The trio talked and talked until they left the café, Mimi waving good-bye to them. Of course, Mimi gave them a discount because they were allies. While walking, Lydia stopped, Mario and Debrie did too just to see what was wrong. She looked through her contacts.

"Damn it... I didn't ask for his number... I'll catch up to you two later!"

She states before running off. Debrie yells.

"Okay! Meet us at Merlon's place! We'll go from there!"

"Will do!", Lydia shouts from her distance. When she arrives at the hospital, she enters her son's assigned room, the girl and Nico still talking as she steps closer. Aihara closely looks at her.

"Hey... I know you! You're the person who took Nico in!... Right?"

"Huh? Yeah, I am. Hey, sweetheart, mind if you give me your phone number?", Lydia asks, turning to Nico.

"Oh right, I never gave you mine."

Nico took out his phone and gave it to Lydia. After a few minutes, she gives him back his cell and closes her own. The woman then looks at the girl next to her then at Nico.

"So... Is she your special somebody?"

She teases as they both shook their heads.

"Uh uh, we're not a couple."

Aihara sat down.

"Just best friends. Always has been that way since we first met. I'm Aihara Kendo, by the way. Nice to meet you!"

"Likewise, Aihara. Well, I have to get going. I only came here for one thing. Maybe we can chat some other time. Right now I have some business to deal with."

The woman says as she stepped out the room.

"You're right, Nico... She does seen pretty nice. That reminds me, I have to get going as well. Feel better soon okay?"

She smiles before also leaving the room. The girl would leave the building and head down the path to her own apartment. Along the way though, she is interrupted by another female. To Nico if he were here, it'd be someone familiar.

"...Kendo."

"I don't have time for your crap, Airi."

"Don't tell me you forgot our bet.", Airi tried reminding her. Her arms crossed.

"Oh, I haven't forgotten. I'm just busy with other things.", Aihara replies.

"What? Being with your boyfriend?"

"... Leave Nico out of this.", she clenched her fists.

"Need I remind you that you lost that deal."

"Yeah right. It was a tie at best."

"You know... you're reeally pissing me off. I'd suggest you stop acting all high and mighty thinking to yourself that you can overtop me.", Airi says with a glare.

"I'm not though. I'm just answering normally."

The two glare at each other. Airi then picks up a vending machine with ease. Her ability allows her to easily pick up heavy objects. "Atom Breaker" [原子波 (アトムブレイカー)].

"Then how about we have a Round 2 Huh?!"

Airi proceeds to throw the machine at Aihara. However, before she manages to use her own ability, a silver haired male steps in front of the pony-tail haired girl, takes his right hand out of his pocket and once the machine hits his palm, it shatters into pieces before they fall to the ground. Airi's expression changes to an angered one as the silver haired male spoke.

"Honestly, Airi. You really need to stop with this. You're not going to achieve anything."

"Why don't you stay the hell away from things that don't involve you, Kanzaki?"

"Oh I will... After you know when to stop being an ass to literally everyone around you."

"I can't believe I'm related to you."

"Neither can I. I'd suggest you stop bullying Aihara before you make things worse."

Airi turns around to walk away from the area, but not before punching a stop sign which bent it. Aihara sighs before speaking.

"I can't stand her... Can't believe I've been able to deal with her for this long. First time I've ever actually seen you use your ability by the way."

"I rarely use Break Out, Kendo. I don't want to use it. Especially after what happened years ago. I just don't want to cause harm to others like _that_ day."

 _Break Out_ [壊す外側 (ブレイクアウト)], Kurushima Kanzaki's ability. It allows the user to shatter or destroy anything as shown with the vending machine. It can also break the bones of a human which is a reason why he always tries to avoid fighting anybody. Though, the ability works under the user's will. They can do it, or not.

 _Wind Rider_ [風大砲 (ウィンドライダー)], Aihara Kendo's ability. She, unlike Kanzaki of course, is only a Rank 4 Inducer. She's able to control the wind and can use it to blow the opponents away or pull them in so she can strike them with physical attacks.

Both Inducers walk together before Kanzaki asks.

"How's Kojo?

"Nico? Yeah, he's holding up fine. I don't know when he'll be able to leave the place though. Probably tomorrow, his injuries aren't that bad surprisingly."

"I see. That's good."

"Oh! He also got taken in by a woman named Lydia! Look at him! He has a mommy now!"

"That so? Heh, feel proud of him."

Aihara puts on a worried face and steps in front of the high ranked ally.

"Kanzaki? Is something wrong? You seem out of it..."

"... The Extraction Project..."

"The wha?"

"The Extraction Project. That's what's been on my mind. Walk with me and stay close."

He says as he steps in front of Aihara and continues walking, the girl following him and staying close.

"The project involves forcefully taking away an Inducer's abilities and you know the rumors of how painful it can be. I've been doing research on their team and see what they've done, it's not very pretty."

Kurushima gives his papers of the information he's gathered to the female, she gulps as she starts reading.

"Extraction Project - Project Exterior in other terms. Lead by Silva Arita, It is a project that forcefully steals the ability of an Inducer. Subjects have only a slim chance in actually surviving, that slim chance is only 0.01%. A special machine is used to extract the abilities of an Inducer specifically as it won't really harm someone who isn't considered an Inducer. People are chosen by random in order to extract their ability.

"The Project is underway, but it won't officially get set in motion until in approximately three to five days."

Aihara gave the information back to Kanzaki a bit frightened.

"That's what the project is about. They've got their people already taking some in."

He responds as he carefully looks around making sure nobody's watching them.

"I'd like it if you helped me in stopping it."

"What?! Me?!", Aihara exclaimed.

"Yes. It'd be a big help."

"But, Kanzaki! You're a Rank 7!"

"Doesn't mean I can't go around asking for help, Kendo. Please make sure to stay safe... We're probably being watched without us even knowing. I know someone who you can talk to about this. I'll text their address to you later, don't want to have people know where they live."

He states as he looks at a security camera before walking off. Aihara looks at the camera as well before also going her own path back to her dwelling. As she set her things on the table of her living room, she lays down, she doesn't want to bring Nico into this. He's already been hurt, not majorly, but still. She couldn't believe she was getting herself into this mess.

* * *

Inside a certain shack, in the middle of a valley, stood two figures. One with blue overalls, a green shirt and cap, the other with white hair, crazy classes and in a lab coat. The one in green stood still waiting.

"Luigi? You sure about this?"

"Of course! Ever since I found out about that-a project, I've always wanted to do something about it... It doesn't start for another few days-a so we have some time to prepare."

"Whatever you say, Green!"

Just then a knock is heard at the door of the shack.

"Who has business here in Evershade? More importantly, who has business here with us?"

The green plumber shrugged before he stepped closer to the door and set his hand on the doorknob.

"Can't-a be Mario, he's busy. Don't-a think it's the Princess-a either."

Luigi opens the door as he is greeted by Aihara, the girl with dark blue hair and a ponytails.

"Um... Are you Luigi?!"

She states as her eyes glistened, she was so excited to actually meet him in person

"Uh yeah! That's-a me! And who might you be?"

"I'm Aihara Kendo! Like... You're fan! All five books of your Super Luigi series! By the way, did that actually happen or-?!"

"Yeah yeah! It's-a true!... Hey, wait-a! How'd you know I was here?!"

"Well, I checked your mansion. You weren't there and so I then came here! Kanzaki told me!"

"K-Kanzaki?... Oh, him-a?"

"Told me he knew you!"

"Yeah. I know him-a, met him years back-a."

The professor in the back finished working as he came up to them.

"I'm Professor E. Gadd. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Likewise!"

"So... Exactly why are you here?"

Aihara looked down and then back up with a serious expression before responding.

"It's... It's about the Extraction Project."

The plumber and the professor look at each other and then back at Aihara.

* * *

Somewhere, someplace, at the same time, a male walked through the hallway of a building in a lab coat while passing by many others. He is part of the Extraction Project. Brown hair, it being a little spiky, brown eyes, khaki pants and a brown shirt under the lab coat. He has a sister as well however... Once he entered the testing room, that's who he saw being taken towards the machine

"W-What the hell?!", he exclaimed.

"Haruko-!"

"Janna!"

He tried running towards her, but was held back by other members as the others forcefully put her in the machine and locked it.

"What the hell is the meaning of this?!"

Just then, in came the head of the project, Silva Arita. Deep down, Haruko really hated him, always treated some of his crew like crap.

"Oh, we just needed a test subject... Our very first one. Who better than your sister?"

He stated as he stepped towards the machine and planted a devilish grin across his face.

"You son of- I'll kill you!"

"I'm just so scared of you right now haha..."

Silva gave the signal as the machine started up. Haruko attempted to break free, but still couldn't. A roar was heard throughout the room as Janna just gave up, she met eye to eye from a distance with her brother and smiled.

"I'm sorry..."

Seconds later the roar continued echoing as it finally stopped a few minutes after, Haruko stood frightened and only saw smoke inside the capsule, the silhouette of his sister's lifeless body. Without giving a warning, he screamed.

"NOOOOOO!"

The ones holding him back lessened their grip when the machine roared which caused him to break free easily. He took out his gun, a regular pistol, and aimed at Silva's leg, it hit which had him fall to the ground. Haruko quickly ran out of the room afterwards

"Get him! Don't let him escape! I don't want that bastard telling anyone about this experiment! Haruko Katsumi! You're a dead man!"

The director shouted. Most of the crew followed him as one set off an alarm and announced what had happened. Haruko, his gun in hand, continues running through the hallway, pushing crew members aside and taking sharp corners.

A woman about the same age and height as Haruko, was looking at her papers until Haruko ran towards her and took her by the hand.

"Eek!- Katsumi?!"

"Shut up and just hang on, Yuuko! I'll tell you later!"

Yuuko was the only person in the whole corporation who was actually kind to Katsumi. Others just either ignored him or attacked him for not having enough info ready for others. The female held on to his hand and caught up, crew members behind them chasing the duo as he shot his weapon. It took them awhile to finally exit the building as Haruko opened a floor panel and let Yuuko in first. Before getting in, Haruko looked at the security camera, on the other side was Arita who had an expression of a madman. A gunshot was heard, said gunshot broke the camera feed as the brown haired male entered and caught up to Yuuko.

Back at the command room, Silva formed a fist, punched the keyboard which completely destroyed it and also sent out sparks.

"You're a lucky man, Haruko. Taking someone out with you to... Next time we meet, you won't be so damn lucky…"

He stated before leaving the room while limping at the same time due to the wound on his leg.


	4. Chapter 4

_Super Mario and Characters ©︎ Nintendo. Only the Original Characters are my own._

* * *

 _ **Chapter 4**_

The trio sat on opposite ends of the table, all with cups of coffee in their hands as Aihara set her cup down in order to talk.

"So... You know about the project too?"

The plumber in green crosses his arms after setting down his coffee and nods.

"Yeah. Heard it from Kurushima. Asked-a me if I wanted to help take down the project-a. I agreed to help of course, I mean, what kind of-a mad man would do something like that to innocent-a people?"

"Yeah... Wait, you know Kanzaki?", Aihara questioned.

"Mhm. For awhile now actually. Now, why are you here again-a? How did you get here?"

"Huh? Oh... Well... He gave me directions here. I was going to ask you if you wanted to help us, but I guess you already beat me to it and told us you agreed to it haha!"

"Yeah."

"So... Where do we really start with this thing?"

Luigi uncrosses his arms.

"Hm... This may or may not-a be related, but... There's been this underground group-a recently. My theory is... Maybe they could be related to the project. The group was created after the announcement of the experiment-a. It's no coincidence."

"Yeah. What if we ask people who are part of that group?"

Professor E. Gadd shook his head.

"No can do. You two can't just go up to everybody in the city and ask them. Besides, even if you do ask, they probably will answer with a no since they'll be afraid that you're going to attack them thinking you're part of the project."

"R-Right… Hm… I know a place. Let's think of how we should start things there first. It'd be more efficient.", The blue haired girl said.

"Right-a."

Aihara stood up and stepped closer to the door. Luigi did the same, though he told the professor that he wouldn't need the Poltergust as he wasn't going to catch ghosts, He thinks he had enough of that. The two later arrived at the city. Of course, it was packed.

"So... Where is this place to start?"

"Right here, silly! In this city!"

"... Mama-Mia… S-Seriously?"

Aihara gave off a smile. No words, just a smile.

After sighing, Luigi pats Aihara's shoulder and then points to a commotion at the distance. They stepped a bit closer and saw that two men were holding back an innocent civilian. Many people were just watching or ignoring as they didn't want to get involved in the situation. Especially knowing the fact that the two men had their own weapons. The plumber and girl tried to get in the middle, but couldn't as there were too many people in their way.

A few seconds later however, a group of people raised their weapons and attacked the two men. They let the civilian run away. The men went unconscious as Luigi and Aihara finally made their way through the many watchers. However, they were now in the middle of the situation, the two raised their hands when the same people aimed their weapons at them. A man with spiky brown hair approached them.

"You their reinforcements huh?"

Aihara and Luigi quickly denied it by shaking their heads.

"What? N-No! We're not! Look, we're friends of Kanzaki!"

The small group all raised their eyebrows.

"Huh? As in... Kurushima?"

Aihara nodded. The man, or in this case, their leader, was reluctant, he was still afraid of them being spies. He signaled everyone to lower their weapons and return to normalcy. Afterwards, he tells the duo to lower their hands.

"Walk with me…"

Luigi and Aigara looked at each other after sighs of relief and did as told. They followed him into an alleyway and then entered an apartment. Inside was another person, a woman probably at the same height and age as the man who led them inside. Luigi and Aihara sat down on the couch as the man sat in the chair on the opposite side of the small glass table.

"My name is Haruko Katsumi. This right here is Yuuko Issei."

"Pleasure to meet you two."

Aihara and Luigi bowed.

"I'm-a Luigi. This right-a here-"

"IIIIIII'm Aihara Kendo!"

After the two introduced themselve, Haruko sighed.

"Look, I know what you're here for. It's kind of obvious after you told me that you are friends with Kanzaki. It's about the Extraction Project ain't it?"

"Yeah. You know about it?"

Aihara asks, Haruko stood back up and walked toward a shelf. He picked up a photograph. In the photo was his sister, Janna and himself, they were having a wonderful time.

"I don't just know about the project… Me, Issei and a few others were part of it."

Luigi and Aihara's eyes widened at his response.

"... I quit because... because... those cold-hearted bastards thought it was a good idea to go ahead and use my own sister as their first test subject to check if the machine was working perfectly or not. I saw her die with my very own eyes. I ran away from the project after that, took Yuuko and managed to convince a few of our friends to leave the project too."

Aihara sat still while looking at the ground, what sick people. They horrendously killed an innocent girl instead of using a dummy.

"I'm.. So sorry for your loss-a..."

Luigi said while also patting Aihara's back. She came back to reality after shaking her head. Haruko places the picture on the shelf and sat back down. The plumber in green proceeded to ask a question of his own.

"By the way… Who were those people back-a there?"

"The ones that attacked the two men? Those are part of a group named ENTA. I created that group. We save people from becoming test subjects, that way they don't have to go through the same fate my sister went through."

"You know more about the project since you worked there right? Can you tell us a way to stop it before it even begins?"

"The Extraction Project is being lead by Silva Arita. A man I despised even when working there. Aside from that, there's a large mechanism inside the building the project is being hosted in. However, thing is, we can't just walk in and destroy it. From what I know, there are three generators in different parts of the city, most likely abandoned facilities. The generators are kept hidden inside them. If we obliterate all three of them, it'll weaken the main mechanism back at the host building, weak enough to the point where we'll be able to destroy it."

"Right-a."

"Do you know where the buildings are?", Kendo questioned.

"No sadly. Just like Haruko said, they're most likely in abandoned buildings. I think it's because no one goes to them anymore.", Issei replies to Kendo's question.

Aihara stood up with confidence. Even after hearing how they horrendously killed Katsumi's sister.

"Well, shall we get this operation started?"

"Such courage for a child!", Issei says with a smile.

"I envy you, Kendo."

Katsumi states as they all stood up and nodded to each other. Before they left, Haruko handed Luigi and Aihara headsets so that way it'd be easier to contact each other. Haruko closed the door after they all left.

"This is for you... Janna...", He says as he follows the other three.

* * *

Nico stood in front of the clinic as he was looking at the text message he received from his mother to the whereabouts of her home. He sighs before putting his cell away, he was finally allowed to leave the hospital.

"So many things have been happening lately... Wonder what's with that..."

He continues down the path to his apartment as he needed to move his things into Lydia's dwelling. At the corner of his eye, it looks like he saw Aihara and goes to where he saw her. Nothing.

"Hm... Must've been my imagination...", he says scratching the back of his head.

As soon as he continued on his way, Aihara stepped out of her hiding spot and let out a sigh of relief. She didn't want to bring Nico into this situation, she didn't want him to get hurt again. Though, before she was about to leave, Nico lets out a smile.

"Got you."

"Eek?! Ugh! Why did I fall for that...?"

"I said "must've been my imagination" for a reason you know. It's an old trick in the book."

"Hmph... Jerk… (It's not even a trick people use…)"

"Where are you heading off to?"

"Huh? U-Uh... Um... Nowhere... Just somewhere important…", Aihara responded. Nico raised an eyebrow.

"Come on, seriously? Usually people don't hide from others when going somewhere important."

Aihara didn't respond. She thought it'd be best to tell him anyways, but to also ask him to not be part of the whole ordeal.

"I just need to find a generator in an abandoned building and destroy it. You know... to stop a project…"

"Doesn't really sound like a nowhere..."

"... Can I just ask for you to… just go home…?"

"Huh? Don't you want me to help-"

Before he could finish, he was interrupted.

"No!"

Aihara shouts her response which shocks Nico a bit, she's never responded in that way towards him. As he was afraid of angering her, he decides to turn the other direction.

"S-Sorry I asked. I got to get going anyways."

As he was about to walk away, she extends her hand out a bit after realizing her voice's change in tone.

"Nico..."

He had already left. She put her hands close to her chest with an expression of guilt on her face. She shakes her head, she should be kind of happy he's not getting involved. Not wanting to get to get all depressed, she began running in order to continue her mission. Nico however, then turns around and starts following her, trying to not make any noise as he's really worried about her safety.

Aihara finds herself in front of an abandoned facility, it being filled to the brim with guards. She slowly passed by each of them, not making any noises in order to get herself into the basement. Once she was able to pass, she entered the basement floor and one by one took out the only two guards there silently. Not really killing them, more so making them unconscious. The machine was near the back wall as she cracked her knuckles and stepped closer. She readied her wind abilities.

"Alright... One of them to go down...!"

However, as soon as she was going to destroy it, she felt a sharp pain in her right side. Aihara looked down to the source of the pain. A needle had punctured her and was stuck inside, the handle of it on the protruding out. She started breathing heavily due to the pain as she placed her trembling left hand above the injury. A few streams of blood caused a big stain on her shirt. The noise of footsteps echoed throughout the room.

"No can do, miss. You know those are real important to the project."

The voice belonged to that of a man as he stepped into the girl's vision.

"Screw your damn project...! Gh..!"

Aihara closed one eye which is the usual when you try to hold back pain. The figure just shrugged.

"You part of that ENTA group?"

"...", Aihara kept herself silent.

"Thought so... You know... Maybe you should just give up. You don't want to mess with a Rank 5 Inducer."

"I... Don't give a damn about what your rank is...!", Aihara shouted.

"Aww... Acting all heroic. How quaint."

"Your project will fall. I don't care... How long... It takes...!"

"Meh. Not if you're dead by the hand of yours truly! Tsuji Nishikawa!"

The man now known as Tsuji Nishikawa, then kicks Aihara which caused her to land on her injured side. The needle went in a bit deeper.

"AAAGH! NGH!"

"Man, what a weakling you are."

He picks her head up so she can meet him eye to eye.

"You can't be that easily beaten, come on now."

"Gh... Ngh..."

A stomp on the ground was heard only a few feet from them. The figure stepped forward towards Nishikawa and Kendo.

"How about letting her go?"

The figure asked. Nico Kojo. He came at just the right time. Nishikawa stood up straight.

"Who in the hell are you?", Tsuji questioned. A bored expression formed.

"Someone who doesn't appreciate you hurting a friend. Let alone someone from my childhood."

"...Hahaha! Man that's rich! That brings a tear to my eye. You really think you can face me?! What even is your rank?"

"...3. Rank 3. Laugh all you want."

"Oh ho, man that IS laughable! Trying to pick a fight with a Rank 5 eh?"

"Just because I'm weaker than you doesn't automatically mean you're stronger than me. Even strong people can lose you know?"

"Tch! Cut your philosophical crap! If you want to save your little girlfriend over here so badly, why don't you come and try?!"

Tsuji responds, a grin plastered on his face. He takes out needles to throw at the lower ranked inducer. Nico doesn't worry as he just raises his hand upwards to create an ice shield. Nico sees Nishikawa to the left of him as his opponent punches his side which sends Nico closer towards the generator. The ice inducer slowly stood back up as Aihara slowly extended her hand to him.

"N-Nico... W-wait..."

Tsuji enters his standing pose once again.

"Aww look she cares about you. How lovely if I do say so myself. If only I had someone like her. Maybe I really should kill her just so you can know how I feel!"

"... That's it? That's why you attacked her? You bastard... How could you… Hehe... Hehehehe!

Nico states as he laughs at the end of his sentence. This came out of nowhere and was completely out of character for him. Tsuji slowly steps away in fear.

"Wh-What?"

"How about we make this kind of even?"

Kojo responds, A blue aura surrounding him for a few seconds before disappearing. Whenever this happens, it signifies that the Inducer's rank has grown. Nico looks towards Tsuji before stomping his foot down. A surge of ice spikes go towards Tsuji as if they were a wave coming from the ocean. Nishikawa was lucky enough to dodge the attack. However, he stepped back more and more in fright.

"Get... Get away from me you monster!"

"Aw, now look who's scared. Me? A monster? I thought it was you who was the monster…"

"Sh-shut your trap!"

"I think maybe I should let the authorities handle the rest of this situation..."

Nico says as he creates an ice cage around Nishikawa. The man tries to escape, but to no avail. He is unable to as the ice was so cold it'd probably burn his skin. The boy then walked over to the Generator.

"So this is what you were talking about, Aihara..."

Aihara slowly watched. She still had pain coursing throughout her body. Nico finally used icicle spears in order to destroy the mechanism. He picked up Aihara with both his hands and ran off as it looked like the machine would explode.

"So much for the authorities coming, man!", Nico said with a smirk.

"W-Wait! You can't leave me here! HEY-"

Nishikawa's voice was interrupted when Nico closed the door and traveled far enough away from the blast radius.

"That dude definitely didn't survive that… Even with my cage…"

"N-Ni...co... Why?"

The girl asks, Nico looks down at her and smiles.

"I was worried for your safety. Come on, if I didn't follow you, you'd be dead by now."

"... I'm supposed to be the worried one…"

"Aww come on, why can't I get my own time in the spotlight?"

"..."

Aihara laughed a bit through her pain as her savior took her to the nearest clinic. There, they managed to take off the needle and put a bandage around her side. As they decided it wasn't a major injury, they let her go after a few hours. In the hallway she entered, stood Nico as he proceeded to hug her. Her face flushed and pressed into his chest.

"Thank you... Nico... I can't believe I just said that..."

"Just happy you're alright."

He responds as they separated from the hug. Aihara sighs.

"I need to tell Katsumi and Luigi about the destruction of one of the generators."

"You're going back to work? But you just got healed!"

"Nico, I don't want this project to begin. I already agreed to it so I will stick to the operation to the very end!"

She responds as they both stared into each other's eyes. Nico saw the determination in her eyes. He sighed afterwards.

"Then I'm helping too."

"What-"

"Aihara. I'm helping. You're not going to stop me. I can make my own decisions."

"But..."

"We're not kids anymore, Aihara. We can't tell each other what to do and what not to do now."

"..."

"Aw crap! I forgot I needed to move my things! Got to go, Kendo!"

As soon as he began running however, the female shouted.

"Wait!"

"Hm? Yeah?"

A flow of a certain emotion rushed through her mind. After a few seconds... She shakes her head and decided it was too early as she just responds with something he was more so expecting.

"Congratulations on reaching Rank 4."

She says while smiling as Nico replies with a thumbs-up gesture before leaving. Kendo activates her headset.

"Katsumi? Luigi? Yeah... It's me... Took down one of the generators. We also may have someone else coming in to help."

She looks out the window to see her childhood friend in a hurry back to his new apartment.

* * *

 _Afterword_

So how's the story so far? Enjoying it? Hopefully you are!

I've been working on this story since... I'd say end of 2015 to Early 2016. It's not a story that I came up on the fly, I already have so many notes I don't know if I'll use all of them! Regardless, this is where things take a dark turn, so I urge you to be prepared. Don't be turned away by this, I want this series to be unique and can stand on its own. Trust me, with what I have planned, this isn't gonna be all kittens, flowers and rainbows.

I'll see you in the next chapter!

(You know I might start doing these afterward segments more often...)


	5. Chapter 5

_Super Mario and Characters ©︎ Nintendo. Only the Original Characters are my own._

* * *

 ** _Chapter 5_**

A man indulging his studies about Inducers Night and Day, knowing every ability known to man… The One Above All.

Long black hair with silver eyes. A shirt with tie that makes him look like he was ready to go to a ceremony.

"Daddy, Daddy!", A small girl, also with black hair and silver eyes, ran to him. Her father's desk was filled with many folders, papers, books and his personal laptop.

"Can we go to the store? There's no more Mushroom Stew..."

A saddened expression formed on her face. The man sighs and rubs his hand on her head causing her to smile. After standing up, she held on to his hand.

The two left their home and headed towards the closest convenient store. It was night time yes, but there were still people around. They would all wish him and the girl a good evening, the latter would always respond back with a smile.

Once they entered the store, she let go of his hand and ran to the aisle that contained what they needed. He sat at a table and waited. Just a few minutes after, someone else had come into the peaceful store and threatened the cashier.

The man got up casually and walked towards the ruckus. When the girl walked over to the counter confused, the person threatening the cashier then aimed their weapon towards the girl, almost taking her as a hostage. She covered her face with the food she bought still in the package. However, the person's hand just froze and couldn't pull the trigger.

"Wh-what the hell?!"

"Shoot my daughter… or be planted deep within the earth. Make your decision."

One of his eyes was glowing, which was the reason behind the intruder's hand practically being frozen in time.

He stepped closer.

The intruder shook, anxiousness coursing through his body. The cashier panically called the authorities when the long black haired male nodded to them.

"Do I have to repeat myself?"

He widened his eyes as the man with the frozen hand felt his arm being squeezed by an unseen force. He screamed in pain.

"OKAY! OKAY! PLEASE JUST LET ME GO!"

The male sighed and closed his eyes which returned the opponent's hand to its normal state. This also allowed them to run away until he tripped over the man's shoe and froze his whole body so that he couldn't escape. The small girl, lowered the food from her face and quickly hid behind her father.

"You're kind are the ones who deserve harsh punishment. Next time you see me, if you ever do, you won't be as lucky."

The authorities arrive and apprehend the suspect after he was let go by the mysterious force. Before he too left, he placed coins on the counter for the Mushroom Stew. He took hold of his daughter's hand and left. Just then, he felt a disturbance in the area. However, he ignored it for now and proceeded to take his daughter back home.

He was shrouded with tons of mystery surrounding him, the one with long black hair and silver eyes and a daughter.

Yatsu Monogari (物画理 奴)

The Rank 8 Inducer. The highest Rank of them all. Rank 8... He studied so much to get there. He's the only one to have that Rank... Or... At least... For now.

* * *

"Really? That's great!", Haruko responds to Aihara's voice over the radio.

"I'm-a still looking for another-a one so...", Luigi says a bit tiredly.

"Now now, Mr. Luigi, we can rest later."

"Mama-Mia..."

They all hang up. Aihara let out a sigh. She decided to rest a bit back in her assigned room even though they allowed her to leave. Suddenly, a girl with blonde hair, and black eyes along with her usual leather jacket, steps in and walks over to Aihara with concern.

"Are you alright, Ai-chan?!"

"... I'm fine, Yumi. Just a needle in my side is all."

"Really? That sounds real bad to me."

Yumi Kada. A childhood friend of both Aihara and Nico as they went to the same school when they were young. Unlike Nico and Aihara, who are both Rank 4 Inducers, Nico only recently reaching Rank 4, Yumi is actually one of the Rank 7 Inducers. Her ability is known as "Cosmic Shatter" (宇宙粉砕 (コスミックシャター), it allows her to pick up things that would normally be impossible for a regular human. When she grabs something, her body absorbs some of the mass of the object she'll be holding in order to make it easier for it to be picked up. She can then throw the object. When she's about to throw it however, the mass her body absorbed quickly goes back to it's original host that way the thrown object can be more devastating power-wise. Out of all the Rank 7's, people consider her as the most energetic and happy of them.

"What are you planning to do now?", The blonde asked.

"I'm gonna continue finding generators and stop the Extraction Project."

Yumi confusingly looked at her.

"What?"

"Oh, that's right... You don't know about that..."

"About what? This "Extraction Project"?"

Kendo nodded. Yumi placed a finger on her closed mouth and got lost in thought before ultimately shaking her head.

"Ne'er heard of it..."

"It's a disgusting experiment. Trust me, you don't want to know what they do."

She stood up and was about to leave the room.

"Thanks for checking up on me. I appreciate it, Yumi. I need to go."

Kada watched as friend left her vision. She stretched her arms and yawned afterwards.

"Man... I have some interesting friends..."

Meanwhile, Nico continuously ran to his new home. He had already taken all he really needed. The male opens the door and enters the peaceful locale. Afterward, he sets his things on the table and walks around, passing by the kitchen and into the hallway where, there, he sets his eyes on a photo. He picked it up and saw his mother and two others he didn't know. One of them wore a red cap and was giving a thumbs up while the other was a small girl who was hugging Lydia. He smiles and wonders if they're related to her at all. He then remembers that he has to help Aihara and her friends in finding and destroying generators. Only two left. Before leaving though, he writes a letter.

[It's Nico. I've already moved into your home. Pretty comfy to be honest, way more than that apartment. If I'm not here when you arrive, it's because I'll be with Aihara doing something important. If I arrive here first before you, then I guess I just wasted a piece of paper and a bit of ink haha - Nico Kojo]

He set down the pen and left. From Nico to Haruko, Issei and a bit of ENTA members stormed and attacked a building with guards. One of the members radioed the brown haired man.

"Sir, I can confirm that all guards have been apprehended and we have found one of the generators."

"Good. Blow it, shoot at it, whatever. I just want that thing taken out of commission."

"Sir!"

"One more to go…,"Haruko sighs.

"I take it that Aihara took one down?"

Issei asked. Katsumi nodded with a smile.

"Indeed. Just one more... Luigi better find it..."

This caused him to speak to Luigi through the radio headset. Luigi had no luck in finding the remaining machine.

"Sorry, Katsumi. Still-a looking... Did you find one?"

"Yes. We've already destroyed it. That's two down and one to go. Good luck."

Haruko hung up as Luigi continued walking. The green plumber kind of questioned why he was part of this plan. Guess he just wanted to be more like his brother and attend more adventures that'll end with happy endings.

While walking, he bumps into a black haired girl with blue eyes. Almost at his height.

"Ah, sorry! My bad, I wasn't really looking."

He apologizes to the girl. The female had an unexpected expression, like an expression caused when something traumatizing happens. Luigi taps her shoulder.

"Hey... You alright, miss?"

Asked the plumber in green, the girl shook her head and then nodded. This girl... Is Rei Kuzu, a Rank 5 Inducer and goes to the same school Aihara and Nico attend. Through her eyes, it was like seeing something she never wanted.

* * *

A long time ago, Luigi had knew Rei's family, as he gave the poor family some coins so they could get jobs and shelter. Since that day, the plumber would always meet them in their home and have fun times. It was a family of five. Rei always saw Luigi as an older brother and looked up to him, even calling him 'Brother' at some times. However, things changed when her and her mother were attacked. The suspect almost killed Rei's mother with a blunt object, that's when things changed. Luigi had stepped in front of the mother to protect her which caused him to faint and also make the suspect run away. He wasn't able to take out his hammer to save himself. He was taken into the clinic, there they received horrible news.

Rei walked into Luigi's hospital room.

"Brother!-"

"Eh? I'm... Sorry? Do you have the wrong room-a?"

This was like a gunshot to Rei's heart. Her family walked in and were told that he had lost some memories of past events, he had lost every memory he had of the Kuzu family. The whole family was shocked. Rei teared up and quickly left the room. That's when she decided to never ever see him again, she didn't want to be reminded of what transpired.

* * *

Back to the present, she responded to the concern.

"No, I'm fine. Really. I should be the one to watch where I'm going. I have to go now-"

"Hey... Wait a minute... Aren't you that-a girl that came into my hospital room years-a back? You look familiar... Just who are you anyways-a?"

That's when Rei stopped in her tracks before responded with a smile, hiding her deeply saddened expression she was holding in.

"Rei... Rei Kuzu... Or rather... Just someone you saved a few years back..."

She then continued running to where she was headed. Luigi scratched the back of his neck with a puzzled look before shaking it off and continuing his expedition. Someone he saved before huh? He shrugged it off before finally finding his way to an abandoned facility and entering through its doors. Weird thing is... That there weren't any guards. Were they confident about this location and thought nobody would find this one?

"At least-a I got the easy one, heh heh!"

He then engulfs his hand with electricity and just places it on the generator. Due to the high amounts of electricity, the mechanism burns out. He takes his hand off the burnt out machine before taking out his hammer and smashing it to pieces. As he was about to leave with a smile, a sharp object lands only a few centimeters in front of him. He enters his cowardly phase and runs behind a pillar.

Footsteps were heard as the figure took their weapon from the ground. They then turned to the place Luigi was hiding.

"I know you're there."

"Wh-Wh-Who are you...?" Luigi reluctantly asked.

"Just an assassin on duty."

This made Luigi gulp and took a peek from his hiding spot. There, he saw a male in a white suit, brown shoes and white pants. He was now holding his weapon, a sword, on his shoulders.

"I'd like for you to come out... Or face the consequences of being an Inducer."

"Wait... Inducer? But I'm not-"

"Don't lie. I saw you use electricity."

"Look-a! I know I have electricity, but I'm not an Inducer-a! I earned my abilities! I didn't get them at birth-a!"

"That so? How can you prove it?"

This caught Luigi's attention. Yeah, he had nothing to prove it.

"Mama-Mia... Look... I have nothing to prove it-a... Now let-a me ask you this... It sounds like you want to assassinate Inducers... Why?"

"Tch. Just like the boss said, our group should be the only ones to be Inducers. Other Inducers just don't cut it. Says he wants to make the world a peaceful place, only filled with actual Inducers."

"You do realize that-a you will cause an uproar within the community which wouldn't make it peaceful right-a? Besides, what do you mean by actual Inducers?"

"We'll make sure that doesn't happen... Because we're the Revalagers. Missions need to get done."

It seems like he avoided answering Luigi's last question. However, Luigi did see his way out. He didn't stand a chance with someone like him, especially since he had a sword. He quickly opened the iron door and locked it before running upstairs and exiting the vicinity of the building. The male just sighed.

"Well, crap. Shouldn't've let him get away... However... Maybe he would lead us to Inducers... Sounds like a good plan."

Luigi ran away as far as his legs could take him and started panting.

"The... Revalagers... Eh?... Great... Another problem-a... Hope he didn't follow me. If I was an Inducer, I'd-a get a Game Over! And I don't want to go to the Underwhere ever again-a!"

"(Why was he there in the first place though…?)" He thought before radioing in Haruko and Aihara.

"Hey... It's-a me... Luigi. I got the last one."

"Good. That should do it, now all we have to do is..."

"Find the main base of operations."

Aihara continues where Haruko left off. Katsumi smirks.

"Good thing I know where it is!"

"Sweet-a! Then let's get to it!"

They all hung up as Haruko started giving commands.

"Alright, Men! We're heading into enemy territory! It's time to put this project to an end before it even begins! Take long range weapons, Melee ones won't do good. As for that bastard, Arita... Leave him to me. I want him to know how hell feels like!"

ENTA members grabbed what they needed and loaded them up with bullets. At Aihara's side, she removed the bandages, confident she didn't need them anymore. She proceeded to meet up with Nico first and then with Luigi. Afterwards, Haruko sent the coordinates to the trio and told them he and his men would meet up with them there.

As soon as they all met up, it was in front of another abandoned building. There seems to be a pattern here... Luigi, Aihara, Nico and Haruko nodded before the brown haired male kicked the door opened as his men entered and opened fire. An alarm sounded which also told the members of the project to take their weapons out and fight. Haruko made his way through the corridors, shooting down opponents with his Assault Rifle.

"Luigi! Aihara! I need you to stay here and help my men! That means you too, young man!", He points to Nico.

"I'll go take down Arita!"

Luigi and Nico were about to follow him as they wanted to help. Aihara however, stopped them both and shook her head. She knows this is personal for him, she didn't want them to intrude on his personal business.

It was like a battlefield inside the building. Bullets being shot everywhere. The trio would use their Electric, Wind and Ice abilities to take down and protect their own allies.

"So this is how being in the middle of a battlefield feels like!", Nico states as he hides behind a pillar in order to avoid getting shot.

"Quit acting all tough! That'll get you killed!"

Aihara yells as she uses her ability to blow opponents away into the air. Haruko made his way through the many hallways and finally into the area where the machine was at. However... The main mechanism was still going strong.

"What…? What the hell is this?! How?!"

The man shouted. Silva Arita stepped towards him.

"You tried to obliterate the project by destroying the scattered generators. Hahahahaha! Man, you're an idiot! Oh right, I never told you!"

"?!" Haruko points his weapon at Silva.

"What the hell are you going on about?"

"You do realize that there were four generators right?" Arita smirked while Katsumi widened his eyes.

"F-Four?..."

"What? Didn't I tell you? You didn't think I'd only have three of them, did you? While your whole team was busy destroying the other generators, I had my own men create a new one! I was one step ahead of you all!"

"Damn it... You little-!"

Haruko then shoots until the bullets somehow come back towards him. One scraping his side.

"AGH!"

Because of this, he drops his weapon.

"Aww. Getting hurt by something relating to you. I'm rather surprised to be perfectly honest. I didn't know your sister had the Reflector ability..."

"Gh?!"

"Hm? Oh, yeah... You see, thanks to your sister's wonderful participation, I was able to steal her own ability and use it for myself! Man, I envy her! You're probably here to get your revenge huh? Well, good luck trying since your bullets won't work! Ahahaha!"

"Of course I'm here for that... I will avenge Janna! You killed her you crazy bitch and I won't sleep peacefully until I finally kill the bastard who took her life! I don't care if I put my life on the line, I just want to take you down!"

Haruko slowly picks up his rifle. He knows full well the bullets will bounce off of him. However, that still won't stop him from at least trying. He opens fire, bullets scraping his body. His firearm ran out of bullets, he sort of thought this was going to be easy. Take down Silva and that's it. He created the fourth generator knowing full well that Haruko and his team would destroy the others. Just then, Luigi, Aihara and Nico ran into the room which caught Arita's attention.

"Oh, are these wonderful friends of yours or what?"

Haruko slowly turns his head to the trio behind him while panting and groaning due to the pain.

"K-Kids..."

Nico and Luigi helped Haruko and took him behind a pillar. Luigi almost got a bit angry, Kid? He was in his 20's!

"Rest here."

"But-"

"Look-a, we know this is personal, but let us help-a you. Sometimes personal matters-a require help from friends-a!"

Luigi and Nico stood next to Aihara while facing Silva.

"Wait... Don't attack... He stole the Reflector Ability from my sister... Whatever you do, do it wisely and strategically!" Haruko shouted.

"So... Reflector huh?"

"I guess that means-a we can't use our Electricity, Ice and-a Wind abilities…"

"Well then... I guess that means we just have to find another way!" Nico responds.

Silva smirks.

"Go ahead and try, you three! It won't do you any good!"

"Luigi? Nico? Let's begin...! It's time to take... Him... Down!"

She says as the trio then charge towards the director of the Extraction Project.

"It's time to exterminate this project!"


	6. Chapter 6

_Super Mario and Characters ©︎ Nintendo. Only the Original Characters are my own._

* * *

 _ **Chapter 6**_

The trio of Luigi, Aihara and Nico charged towards Silva Arita who had killed and stolen the Reflector Ability from Janna, Haruko's younger sister. The male just smirked and would then proceed to dodge all their attacks. Knowing full well their inducer abilities won't work, Nico tries anyways. He forms an ice spear, aims it at the director and throws it.

The icicle spear collides with the unseen force surrounding Arita and shatters into a million pieces.

"You know what Katsumi over there said right? Your abilities won't be of good use here!"

Arita's ability activates, 'Velocity Break'. Velocity Break allows the user to run at extreme speeds and lets them stop on a dime, making it easy for them to do sharp turns in a battle. With his extreme speed, he went towards Nico and quickly aimed a punch at Nico's side.

"ERK!"

Nico responded in pain before being sent towards a wall. Aihara turned at him in fear.

"Nico!"

The boy got up quickly after the hit.

"Damn. Both Velocity Break and Reflector?"

"That's-a deadly combo! Are you sure we can pull this off-a?"

Luigi questions. Haruko, even with his pain, stood up after he reloaded his weapon.

"Gh... Hey... What if... What if we can freeze the whole floor?" This sparks an idea within Nico's mind.

"That's right... Arita has a Speed ability... Sure he can stop on a dime, but if the floor becomes ice... His speed and instant stops won't be able to function properly...!"

Nico looks at Arita before placing both his hands on the floor which causes the whole area to freeze over.

"Damn! You-"

"Sucks to be you, Mr. Director!"

Aihara interrupts Silva while smirking. Luigi then taps her shoulder and whispers to her.

"Hey... Aihara? What if you combine your abilities with Nico's?"

"H-Huh? Why?"

"Well-a... I think I may have an idea... This may be far fetched, but still! Just do it!"

"U-Uh okay! Nico! Let's combine our abilities!"

She starts forming medium winds in the room. Nico, not knowing what they had in mind, sends ice particles into the winds. The winds then scatter across the room which makes the crew, except Nico, shiver due to the cold.

"N-N-Nico? You're so lucky you don't f-f-feel the cold!"

Aihara says while she wraps her arms around herself in order to stay warm. Nico gets closer to the crew and pulls Aihara in causing her to blush before shaking her head.

"Th-Thanks... N-Nico..."

Luigi didn't seemed fazed by the cold as he experienced it many times. Haruko though... Wasn't lucky.

"Damn... Not even this lab coat is good for the cold..."

Silva proceeded to laugh.

"Hahahaha! What do you kids have up your sleeves?- gh...!"

The cold winds hit him as he tries to stay tough like a villain would. Just then Luigi then skated towards Silva and aimed a punch engulfed with electricity at him. Success! Silva gets knocked back, cleaning the blood from his mouth.

"What in the-?!"

Luigi then stood straight.

"It's called-a cancellation of abilities-a. You see, in order to use the Reflector ability, you need to concentrate. That's why my attack succeeded in hitting-a you. You were a bit worried about the cold and shifted your focus on trying to stay warm instead of your ability."

"Y-You-!"

"Plus, combine not being able to focus and not being able to speed up because of-a the frozen floor, that makes it really impossible for-a you."

"You inducers are something! Something disgusting!"

Silva shouts as he got up and ran toward Luigi. The plumber in green curled his hand into a fist once more and charge it with electricity.

"Fun fact-a for you, Silva! I'm not an inducer-a. Thunderhand, my ability? Well I earned it! That doesn't make me an inducer, and it was also useful in trying to stop a certain purple witch! To me, you're not even much of a challenge as she was-a to me!"

Luigi aimed his fist at Silva. He spurt out a bit of blood. The punch also shocked him which caused him to fall backwards onto the icy floor. Aihara, Nico and Haruko watched the defeat of Silva Arita and then stepped closer carefully towards Luigi and Silva.

"You were about to murder many people. You really thought we weren't going to do anything about it?"

Aihara says, with Nico then following up.

"You know, for an early villain you really kinda suck..."

"Gh..."

Haruko slowly stepped in front of his old boss.

"Get out you three... I have some unfinished business..."

Luigi tapped the shoulders of both the pony-tail haired girl and the boy next to her. The duo nodded afterwards and followed the green plumber out. Haruko watched them leave before he turned back to the opponent on the ground.

"Been awhile... Hasn't it... Haruko?"

"Shut your trap."

"That your new way of greeting your bo-"

Katsumi stomped on Silva's stomach in the same area Luigi hit which caused him to groan in pain loudly.

"AGGH! NGH!"

"I won't forgive you. Right from the beginning, I knew you were a piece of trash."

He responded while pointing the weapon at his former boss. He put his hand on the trigger.

"No! Wait, I-"

"Don't give me that "I'm sorry! I really am" crap, Silva. That won't work. You killed my sister, and I will make sure you go to the Underwhere. The exact same place you came from!"

"AAAAHHHH!"

Silva screams. The trio who were walking back to the main area, hear the scream and then a gunshot. Yuuko stepped forward in fear. The ENTA group took down every member, but also lost some of their own.

Footsteps were heard as the figure that showed up in front of them all was non other than Haruko Katsumi. Blood on his lab coat and no weapon. Yuuko sighed in relief and ran up to hug him. They both held their hug for awhile. It was silent after that until…

"Silva Arita. The horrid man... Has been shot dead... By me. The project is done and over with. It's over."

ENTA members rejoiced as some hugged or handshaked others. Haruko remembered the fourth generator, but then shook his head and thought Silva just said it in order to gain some kind of advantage. Just to make sure however, he sends men to track down and obliterate the leftover machines. Some ENTA members would stay at the main machine until the others destroyed the fourth and final generator. Once it was found, the machine was constantly shot in order to malfunction it.

They all left the building afterwards. The trio sighed in relief.

"Maaaan, what a day..."

"All in one day..."

Said Nico after Aihara. Luigi then walked over to Haruko who was looking Into the distance.

"Hey... It's alright-a... She's probably watching from the Overthere."

"That sounds so cliché."

"That's what I'm-a here for haha! What do you plan on doing now, Haruko?"

"... I'm stepping down as the main leader of ENTA. They'll be fine without one... Plus... I'm taking Yuuko somewhere special. I owe her one."

He says as they both turn around and look at Yuuko, Aihara and Nico talking to each other. He smiles before continuing.

"It'll be a new day tomorrow, Luigi. Hope you're ready."

"Luigi's always ready-a!"

He responds while rubbing the bottom of his nose with his index finger.

The brown haired male would make his way to Issei and the others. The green plumber would also then look into the distance, remembering about what happened awhile back when he went and destroyed the third generator. The Revalagers, a group intending to do harm and kill any Inducer that don't follow their criteria. From where he's standing, he widens his eyes when he notices a small group of people who then stared at him. All having their own unique weapons. Luigi gulps as Aihara nudged at him.

"Something wrong, Luigi?"

"Uh..."

He turns to where he saw the group. Nothing. He scratches the back of his head before also shaking it.

"Nah. I'm fine. Just proud-a that we took down that project-a."

Aihara nodded and smiled before crossing her arms.

"Yeah. That makes me proud too."

"So... Are you and-a Nico going somewhere? A date may-"

His voice is muffled by the girl's hand. Her face red as a tomato, with Luigi patting her hand as a sign of giving up until she finally took her hand in front of Luigi's mouth off.

"..."

"I... See... Well, anyways-a. There's something I need-a to do."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Something important-a! Duh!..."

Luigi states before bringing Aihara into the forest.

"We need to talk-a... I'm going to do some research on the group that-a calls themselves the "Revalagers". From the looks of things-a, they're not good people. I encountered a member when I want to take down the third-a generator. Aihara, I want you and Nico to keep on the look out-a. They're wanting to assassinate any Inducer that doesn't meet their criteria. Watch yourselves-a okay?"

It was too much to take in. For Aihara, that'd mean she has to do more work, but she agreed to Luigi's proposal.

"We will. I'll make sure of it. Thanks for the heads up. I guess we have to work together for while longer. N-Not that that's a bad thing!"

She says in response as she shakes her hands signifying 'No'.

"Again! You can count on me!"

She says afterwards while punching her chest with one arm. Yep, back to her energetic self. Aihara waves goodbye to the plumber as they both head their separate ways. Luigi still concerned about what happened back there.

"For once, Bro... While you go do whatever-a you're doing, I'll be here on my own adventures-a. Good luck-a to the both of us, Mario."

He says to himself and to the brother that isn't there. Back to where Nico and Aihara are, they walk and walk to their respective homes as he looks at his phone.

"Wonder what Mom's been doing..."

"Lydia? Probably doing her best somewhere too just like we did! Don't worry! She'll be fine, Nick!"

Aihara says and pats his back with a smile.

"N-Nick?!"

"Yeah! Nice nickname right?"

Nico sighed before responding.

"I'd… Rather stay as Nico thank you… as for her well being… I guess... But I'm still kind of worried... She seems like a tough one though so..."

It was an awkward silence after that. Aihara wanted to thank him once more for making her feel warm back at the battle with Silva, but she didn't have the courage to just yet. She feels guilty about it as well.

"Well, my new home is now this way. See 'ya, Aihara!"

"Huh? O-Oh... Yeah..."

* * *

At the edge of a cliff stood 6 figures, all looking down at the city.

"I wonder how the boss will feel about this!"

"Probably real good! We'll be able to kill as many Inducers as we want!"

Two of them said. A female then spoke after they were done speaking.

"Like always... Just stay in silent."

"Oh! Who's our next target, Kaisura?"

The female, only known as Kasura took out a picture of their targets.

"Our first targets? Aihara Kendo - Inducer Rank 4... And Luigi. Our first non-inducer target."

"Ho boy this is going to be fun ain't it?!"

"Let's go team."

The male next to Kasura states as they all vanish into thin air with the help of one of their allies' ability.

 _Next Chapter, the continuation of the adventures of Mario, Debrie and Lydia. As for Luigi and the crew? Well, Let's just say Events will Unfold in the future._


	7. Chapter 7

_Super Mario and Characters ©︎ Nintendo. Only the Original Characters are my own._

* * *

 _ **Chapter 7**_

"Are you sure Merlee's Mansion is this way?"

Debrie states tiredly to the plumber ahead of her as they walked through the forest. The trio of the plumber, Mario, the girl with the Light Prognosticus embedded into her, Debrie and the woman with powers of the Dark Prognosticus, Lydia, had left Flipside and were making their way towards Merlee's Mansion as, previously, Merlon suggested to check up with Merlee to see if she knows anything about the situation.

"Hey, are you implying I'm-a bad at directions-a?"

Mario replies to his allies remark. Lydia waves her hand in front of her face like she's trying to swat a fly.

"Eugh. Maybe you could've actually chosen a different path. These damn Mosquitos are all over the place...!"

"Well-a, tough luck, Lydia. Welcome to Gloom Valley."

The plumber responds to the woman's complaint.

The trio, after what seemed like forever to the two females, leave the forest and enter the area known as Gloom Valley.

This area is pretty well known due to the fact that it's always sunset there which is why the sky's always orange. The sky's even like this at the early hours of the morning. Gloom Valley has only the beautiful orange sunset at Day and Night. Once the the Moon sets, the Sun stays low as it would be during sunset. Nobody can really explain this phenomenon, not even the geniuses at REXA (Rainbow EXploration Association).

"AAAAH!~ The sky's soooooo beautiful!"

Debrie says as she looks at her surroundings, her hands clasped together. Lydia places her hand on one of the shorter girl's shoulders.

"We're here for Merlee, not for sight-seeing, Debrie."

"Aww... I wish I had brought a Camera..."

It's been awhile since Mario came here. Even with the large time gap, he still knows his way around the valley and its many puzzles. He knew what he was doing, Lydia and Debrie just continued following him, sometimes sort of confused as to what he was actually doing.

The mansion stood tall and mighty as the three enter its vicinity. Tall bushes surrounded the building.

"Man-a... I really hope Merlee's Pets aren't still vicious-a..."

Mario says as he gulps and slowly adjusts his hand on the doorknob in order to twist it and open one of the large entrance doors. The creaking of the door echoed throughout the main foyer, with Mario letting the ladies go first before he closed the door after he got in himself.

The sunset's light shimmered into the main hall through the large windows as the group walked forward. Lydia and Debrie stood at the large two doors at the end of the hallway, Mario had stopped further back.

He was kind of scared. There used to be two Gnips, dog-like creatures, that guarded the area. Did Merlee throw them out or…? Mario shook his head and caught up to his female allies. The plumber in red opens the doors which led further into the Mansion, the trio stepping forward.

"Hey, Merlee? You-"

Before Mario could finish his sentence, someone used their leg to trip him which caused him to fall forward. The figure then used their elbow and hit his back which led to him falling to the ground faster. Afterwards, the figure put his hands together before taking out a knife and holding it close to the side of the plumber's neck.

"Mario!"

Debrie shouted his name. This attack caused Lydia to form a sword made out of her purple and black aura energy, however, just before she was able to strike, footsteps in the distance were heard. They all looked at the other figure who was walking down the stairs that led to the second floor. She had some sort of yellow hat, yellow and red dress along with purple earrings. She was as tall as Lydia.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't do that to an old friend of mine, Uchime."

The figure who was holding the plumber hostage quickly stood up and put her weapon away. They also helped Mario back up.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were an ally to Ms. Merlee!"

Mario stretched, relieved that he was free from the attacker's hands. Lydia dismantled her weapon.

"N-No no, it's-a fine! Ow..."

The unidentified attacker was now fully visible. She had light-pink-ish hair alongside a purple and white maid dress. She bows and introduces herself.

"I'm Uchime. I'm the current Maid of Merlee's Mansion. It's a pleasure to meet you, once again, please forgive what I did earlier."

Mario stood surprised.

"H-Huh... Wow-a Merlee, I didn't think you'd get another-a maid..."

The woman in almost all yellow turns out to be Merlee. She came down to the lowest level.

"I had too, Darling. I can't do everything by myself."

"Well, at least-a Uchime here isn't that deadly like your... *Ahem*... previous maid-a..."

He remembers how brutal her previous helper was, Mimi. He accidentally dropped a vase and had to pay millions... in rupees. Then, he also had to experience her transformation into a spider which had carved itself into his memory and probably won't ever leave his brain.

"Even though she tried to kill you literally a few minutes ago.", Lydia responded.

"W-Well yeah, but-a still!"

Merlee opens her mouth in order to speak.

"So, what brings you here again, Mario?"

* * *

The four sat at the edge of a large table in the dining hall after Mario introduced Debrie and Lydia to her. The Maid, now known as Uchime, places drinks for them all as they continued talking.

"So... That's what this is all about huh?", Merlee responds before taking a sip of her drink.

"Yeah. We think-a he might be looking for the pages of the Dark Prognosticus that have been scattered-a after his defeat. Lydia told us-a earlier."

"What does he plan to do with the book again?", Merlee asks as she sets down her cup of tea on the table. The plumber crosses his arms.

"We don't-a know yet. Though, he probably intends to put it back together and use it to create a new Chaos Heart-a. However, that would put-a the Princess in danger again."

"Hm? Why if I may ask?", Lydia asks, Mario turns to face her.

"The Chaos Heart can only be summoned-a by having "a monstrous king marry a pure princess." which is what's written in the Dark Prognosticus-a. I don't-a think he plans to kidnap the Princess, or even Bowser for that-a matter, by himself. He must have someone that's going to do it-a for him."

"Well why are we here and we could've gone and warn the Princess?!"

Debrie states as she slams her hands down on the table.

"We have time, Debrie. Again-a, he can't summon the Chaos Heart without the whole book of the Dark Prognosticus and the supposed marriage."

Lydia then widens her eyes.

"W-Wait... If that's true... Wouldn't that mean... I'd be in danger?"

She was shaking. Just with the thought of Dimentio using her again and bring her more pain was more than enough to have her worried. Debrie tried to comfort her, but she was still shaking. The girl gave a worried face. Mario's expression changed to a worried one as well.

"We just-a have to find and take the pages all for ourselves-a! If we do that-a then you don't have to worry about a thing-a!"

This calmed Lydia down a bit. She smiled. The woman in yellow sitting in front of the trio then spoke.

"Truth is... I found a few pages behind my Mansion. They were stuck on the bushes no less. Though, just to be safe, I put them in a container and then put it in the basement."

"Can you take us there?"

The girl in robe asked. She really wanted to get them so they could take care of them instead. The pages wouldn't have any magical power due to them being separated from the other pages and not being in the form of a book. Merlee was reluctant at first, however, she sighed and stood up and gestured them to follow her. As they left, Uchime picked up their cups and placed them on the plate in order to take them back to the kitchen.

Debrie and Lydia look around as they follow Mario and Merlee. Makes sense since this is their first time here. Merlee also had all the traps that were placed by a certain green female removed. They made their way down to the building's basement area. Said area has also changed, it's been changed into a library as Merlon had sent all his books over to her so she can take care of them. At the very end of the room, there was a locked cabinet. There, Merlee used the necessary key to unlock it and take out the pages the trio were looking for. The woman then hands them over to the plumber. Mario takes the pages and hides them in his pocket.

"Are you sure this is all you found-a?"

"Yes. It's all I've got. I wish I could help you all more."

"Either way-a, thanks-a! We'll be taking our leave now-a so!"

The trio would wave at the woman in all yellow. Things up top however... were far different.

* * *

Uchime saw the four go to the next room and probably to the basement. She then headed over to the kitchen in order to clean and then store the cups.

After cleaning them, a noise within her hearing vicinity echoed slightly. She quickly took out her knife and turned around, however all she was greeted by was a kick to her side. As she was launched, a shocked expression on her face formed, this was the first time she got hit in all her life.

She ends up hitting the wall and falls to the ground. The pink haired maid slowly stood up, though, the figure who had attacked her came up to her and grabbed her by the neck in order to lift her up. She placed her hands on the hand grabbing her throat and desperately tried to break free. It was to no avail, until she used her free legs to kick the chin of her opponent, this caused the perpetrator to release her. Uchime landed on her legs and started breathing heavily in order to get some air, though she wasn't given enough time as the attacker aimed punches and kicks at her as she attempted to dodge them all. The figure stopped his attacks before speaking.

"Oh come on, Honey, you didn't think I'd give you enough time to get back your breath now did you? Sorry to burst your bubble, but we're not in a comic. This is real life we're talking about."

He tells the maid with a confident smile.

"Just... Who... Are you?!"

Uchime questions him as she grabs her knife and runs a fast as she can towards her green haired opponent in order to attempt a stab. A purple and black aura similar to Lydia's forms and grabs on to Uchime's arm that is holding the weapon with excruciating strength. So much strength that it was almost breaking her whole arm.

"AAAGH-", The opponent then covered her mouth.

"Now now, we don't want your friends to hear your screams of pain. Besides, you must be stupid enough to go against me. I have Dark Prognosticus text within my own body, so compared to you I HAVE MORE STRENGTH!"

His powers form a fist as it charged and hit Uchime's stomach with so much force that it caused her to spit out blood after the fist collided with her stomach. Her grip on the knife lessened as it dropped to the floor. It also sent her flying back to the wall she hit before. After falling to the floor, she tried standing up, but in the end, her vision blurred and slowly faded to black as the maid fell to the ground unconsciously marking it as a defeat for her and a victory for the enemy.

"Tch... She stood no chance anyways... Hm?"

He turns his head towards the sound of footsteps. He grins as he picks the maid up and carries her to where the sounds of footsteps are originating from.

As the trio exited the basement and back to the main hall, the enemy throws the unconscious girl towards Mario. Caught by surprised, the plumber still manages to catch the injured friend.

"U-Uchime?!"

The trio set their eyes on the figure standing before them. Merlee also caught up to the trio and saw her injured maid and the perpetrator.

"Who in the hell are you?", Lydia asked. The figure grinning.

"Oh... Right, I didn't even tell your maid friend here. I don't know if you heard of me, but... The name's Yosuru, one of Dimentio's allies."

The facial expressions of Mario, Debrie, Lydia and Merlee change to fear.

"I don't think-a we appreciate you hurting someone so innocent-a."

"Psh... Whatever. You won't appreciate me either way. I'm just here for the pages. Look, I don't want things to get more problematic, so I suggest you just hand them over."

Yosuru states to the group in front of him, a smile and a raised eyebrow. Mario slowly places the injured maid next to a wall before standing up and giving his answer.

"The answer is obviously no."

"That so... Well then... How unfortunate, I guess I'll just have to give you the same treatment I gave to your little friend over there!"

Yosuru sways his hand to the right which causes his aura to create spears and launches them at the plumber. Fortunately, Lydia uses her own Dark Prognosticus abilities to create a shield around her allies. The shattering of the spears that collided with the shield created a distinct sound that echoed across the room. The smoke they create after their impacts cleared as Lydia's shining arm lost its purple-black glow. This caught Yosuru off-guard a bit he didn't react with fear.

"So... You're like me huh?"

"... Aside from having the same ability, I'm nothing like _you_. I don't appreciate you hurting my own friends either."

"That so? A battle between two with the same abilities sounds quite fun and interesting."

Mario readies his Hammer, Lydia forms a sword and Debrie steps back a bit in order to avoid getting injured. Debrie and Merlee headed over to help the injured Uchime. Mario charged in with a hammer strike, but is quickly blocked by a hand that was formed by Yosuru's Dark Prognosticus aura. Lydia charges in afterwards and swings the sword to his side which he also blocks with a small shield. The chestnut colored haired woman jumps back, their opponent releasing Mario's hammer with him also jumping back.

"I hope you realize that Dimentio added much more Dark Prognosticus text into me. Meaning I have more power than big chest over here."

Lydia raised an eyebrow and looked down at her chest. Mario looked over to her.

"You had to check-a?... seriously?"

"Guys! Take this seriously!", Debrie exclaimed when she turned to them.

Lydia shook her head as she and Mario charged towards Yosuru. Mario creating and throwing a fireball and Lydia forming a spear to throw at their opponent. Yosuru foresaw this and quickly stopped both attacks.

"I forgot to mention about my ability… _Capacity Revolver_ …!"

 _Capacity Revolver (収容能力短銃 [キャパシティーリボルバー])_ \- This Inducer ability allows the user's brain to process things much faster than that of a normal human.

Mario and Lydia jumped back again.

"Damn...! If only he didn't have that stupid Inducer ability!"

At that moment, he formed a fist with his abilities and hit Lydia on her side just like Uchime.

"GH-!"

After holding her ground, she places her hand on the injured area and breathes heavily.

"Lydia!"

"I'm alright, Mario…"

Yosuru forms a hammer and hits Mario on the chin which launches him into the air and then back down on his back.

"Mar-?!"

Before shouting his name as a way to check his safety, she once again gets hit by Yosuru's attack on the same side he hit before. This sends her flying towards the plumber

"Lydia!"

The girl in robes shouts her name. Her two allies were definitely no match for someone like him. He's an Inducer with a deadly ability, not only that, but also has Dark Prognosticus magic to go along with it. In the distance however, she sees Mario slowly take out two bean like objects from his pocket and eats one himself while giving the other to Lydia. Their color was Blue. Yosuru forms a large hammer with his magic and strikes it down on the two.

"Ishkeshstraphen ka monosarius."

Debrie widened her eyes.

"Is that… That's Shaykunian…"

"Shaykunian?", Merlee raised an eyebrow.

"It's Shaykun Kingdom's language. That's all I know… I don't know what he said…"

Smoke appeared after it striked the ground. Mario and Lydia weren't there anymore, instead they were now behind Yosuru.

"Huh? What the hell-!"

A loud sound was heard. It was the combined attacks of Mario and Lydia's punches at their enemy which caused it, Yosuru fell to the ground before standing up again.

"Ever heard of these special beans-a, Yosuru? This blue one increases Speed-a which is how we were able to dodge your "final" attack-a."

"Impressive if I do say so myself. Heh. Oh well, I guess I just had to speed up my attacks then-"

At that moment, he felt a sharp pain in his back as he jumped into the air and then near the entrance way behind Mario and Lydia. The one who almost stabbed him was none other than Uchime, who had her maid dress ripped due to her previous fight with him. She gets her knife ready before speaking.

"I'm not letting you hurt these people. A good maid always protects her master and friendly guests."

Debrie clasped her hands together as a blue ring surrounded the area in which she was standing. Markings appeared in the areas inside the circle as Lydia then spoke with a grin.

"Just because you have more power doesn't mean you won't lose. I hope you know that sometimes, even the weak can beat the asses of the strong ones."

"I have a spell that can slow your ability down. I hope you know that, Mr. Yosuru.", Debrie says as she threatens Matsuda by warning him of her spell.

"What's it-a going to be?"

Mario says grinning at their opponent. Yosuru just sighs before a telepathic message begins between him and a certain jester. The Inducer sighs.

"Duty calls. I have more important things to do now. You can keep your pages... For now… Damn… I wish I could stay around and beat your asses a bit more…"

He tells the crew before speeding off with the help of his magic. Lydia would've stopped him, but he'd already be gone by the time she had the chance to. Their attention turns to the maid in purple who slumped a bit forward.

"I'll be fine for sure. Just need to give it time."

The maid in purple says with a smile. They all nod as the others help her out in cleaning the mess they created. As soon as they finish, The trio head outside after waving good bye to Merlee and Uchime and walk down the path back to Flipside.

Mario rubbing his chin and Lydia her side. Debrie chuckling nervously.

"You know... Maybe I should've used that spell ahaha..."

"You should've... We wouldn't've gotten our injuries if you did that!"

Lydia responds to Debrie's remark. Mario chuckles as the females behind him continue following him through the forest back to Flipside.

"You know... I wonder how many pages in total there are..."

"Eh, probably hundreds-a... Keep in mind though, the more we get, the easier it'll be for Dimentio's plan to be one step closer to completion-a."

"How so?"

"It's hard-a to explain actually.", The plumber responds to Debrie.

"Can't believe that guy called me "Big Chest", I mean, my breasts aren't that big are they?"

Mario rolls his eyes as Debrie blushes and makes an X with her arms.

"H-Hey! Don't say stuff like that!"

"What do you mean?"

"Can we just move away from that topic-a, please."

With that out of the way, the trio make it through the forest connecting Gloom Valley and Flipside.


	8. Chapter 8

_Super Mario and Characters ©︎ Nintendo. Only the Original Characters are my own._

* * *

 _ **Chapter 8**_

Lydia sat at the edge of a table inside a restaurant. She was just there for no reason what so ever. Ever since the incident with Yosuru back at Merlee's Mansion, she's been more worried than usual. The fact that if Dimentio does manage to get all the pages, he'll need to extract the text she has which would deal lots of pain. She, Mario and Debrie separated after they got done talking with Merlon awhile ago.

Merlon has stored the pages that were given to him somewhere within the confines of his dwelling. Says that he'll also attempt to reach out to the three if he finds any more information regarding the whereabouts of the other pages.

The woman sighs as she puts her hands in her pockets and looks out the window of the restaurant.

The restaurant has 'WANTED' papers posted all around. Lately there's been some... incidents. A total of about eleven people have been killed since last week. Reports say that they only have a few eye witnesses who actually saw how the perpetrators look like.

"Not like that's going to matter anyways. Those people would probably change the way they look. In the end, those posters were just a waste of paper."

Lydia says to herself. Someone stood at the edge of the table as she opens one of her eyes and looks to the side. The figure then sat down on the opposite part of the table, she can't mistake that hair however.

"What are you doing here, Nico?"

Nico, who was now Lydia's son, decided to order something for both himself and his mother.

"I needed a break, Mom. I'm just so worn out. What's wrong with that?"

"I see. What'd you get involved with that got you so worn out?"

"Well, I helped out Luigi, Aihara and a guy named Haruko, take down the Extraction Project before it even began. You do not want to know what it was all about. That and we had to fight the director head on as well as some dude named... Uh... Meh, he's not important, but I managed to get to Rank 4!"

After she heard the last words, she smiled.

"Rank 4 huh? Congratulations then, Sweetheart. But... Still... Be careful on what you involve yourself with. Yeah, I've heard of that project. After all, it recently entered the news after the authorities captured the ones behind it all."

The waitress comes and sets the drinks that were ordered onto the table as Nico starts taking sips from his beverage.

"Also be more careful out there. Remember, there've been those recent killings. Probably assassins. Be on guard."

"What? You don't think I know that already? I'll be fine, Mom. Besides, we have Luigi and a Rank 7 inducer on our side."

Lydia sighs at her son's cocky attitude before taking a sip from her own drink.

"What have you been up to?"

Nico asks the woman in front of him.

"It's a long story. It'll take awhile to tell you all of it. I also don't want to confuse you, dear."

"If you say so."

Lydia thinks deeply about a previous statement. Now she has to worry about her son's safety now to, due to the fact that her having Dark Prognosticus abilities might get him into danger as well.

As they two finish their drinks, they leave the money and the restaurant. Lydia should be on break, after all, Merlon hasn't contacted her and the others about a new location.

It was time for some Mother-Son bonding. She knows she said it was a long story, but... In order to keep him safe, she'll tell him.

"Hey... Sweetheart?"

"Hm?"

"... Truth is... You see, I have text of the Dark Prognosticus embedded in me... The same book that was used to almost end all worlds many years back... I was used as a damn toy by Dimentio. Told me I needed to find all the pages for him just so he can do what he did many years back again."

"... So... That's what that was? That's what you used back when you saved people from the bomb explosions?"

He questioned after remembering what happened back then.

"Yeah. It took over my body which caused me to kill everybody in a whole town. Even a friend's father..."

Nico didn't want to question her anymore as he felt like it would hurt her more.

"But, I've learned to control it now."

"Hmm... That's good at least!", Nico replies happily as the two continue walking down the sidewalk.

"I'm helping out a few friends find the pages so Dimentio doesn't take them for himself. I'd like for you to not get involved with our situation, Nico. I'm not trying to be rude here alright? It's just that the things we might face will be too difficult for someone like you."

"Huh? But... How difficult could it be?"

"Recently, we fought Yosuru... An Inducer with both the same ability as mine, turns out that Dimentio chose him as my replacement and embedded more text into him than me. Not only that, but he also has his own ability, Capacity Revolver. We weren't able to fully take him out though..."

"... Wait are you'd serious?! You actually fought someone like him?! To be perfectly honest, I didn't think you'd survive..."

Lydia shot a glare at her son's remark.

"Uhh I-I mean...!"

Lydia then chuckles and rubs his head. It is sorta true that she probably wouldn't have survived. If it weren't for those convenient speed beans, both her and Mario would've gained extreme injuries. Guess that's what happens when you fight someone on his caliber. Come to think of it… He never told them his Inducer rank…

"Oh come on, I'm joking! It's okay to think that, Kojo. I'm not going to actually get angry at you because of that."

Nico nervously laughs. Not sure if what she said was sarcastic or not. That's when Nico was reminded of something they received at school. He takes out a piece of a paper and gave it to Lydia.

"What's this?"

"It's a notice from the school. Says that they're holding their fifth annual festival soon. School's-"

"Are pitted together in different competitions in order to win a trophy. It's kind of expected."

Lydia interrupted and finished what Nico was pretty much going to say.

"Uh.. Yeah... That... Ahaha..."

"What about it?"

"Um... Is it alright if you can come? It's fine if you don't have the time though!"

The woman looks at the paper before smiling and rubbing the boy's head.

"We will see if I have time, Kojo."

"Really?"

"Really. When does it start?"

"Let's see... All we're doing is preparing... So I guess it'll be in a couple of days."

"That so? Hm... Duly noted, Nico."

She says smiling. At that moment, Nico receives a message from Aihara. He opens it up. Lydia looks over his shoulder.

"Your girlfriend again?"

She teases him before he quickly shook his head.

"Mom, it's not like that!"

"That's what they all say, dear, hmhm"

"Right. Well, I have to go. She needs me for something!"

"Just be careful alright?"

Nico starts running off, but not until replying.

"Sure will!"

Lydia stood still and watches her son run off to whatever business he plans on doing. She looks down at the paper he gave her before folding it and storing it in her pocket.

She looks up towards the sky, still clear blue as ever and still worried about future events that might occur.

"So... Dimentio chose him huh... Though... I'm surprised that guy even agreed to help him... and why? That's the real question here..."

* * *

Inside a certain building... In a certain room that almost, if not exactly, looked like an arena. Parts that looked like they were taken off of metallic bodies scattered.

A large hole was created on one side of the room, the light shining into the inside. The voices of multiple men were heard around a certain females vicinity as she ran through the thick forest.

"Where is she?!"

"I think I saw her over there!"

These were some of the dialogue the unknown female heard before she continued running through the area. Stepping on branches, cracking them in two, also rustling through bushes in the process.

The female had some scratches over her body. She had silver colored hair and blue eyes. She closed her eyes, almost on the verge of tears.

"I don't want to do that ever again...!"

She tripped which caused a bit of noise, but she quickly got up and continued running until she finally made it into the large urban area of Mushroom City. It seems as if they stopped following her for now…

She sighs before running some more just to be more cautious. She makes it to the small alley way between apartments allowing her some room to breathe. However, upon finally getting some strength back, a loud, yet silent, noise echoed throughout the area as she quickly jumped a few feet forward and turned around only to see three men with special suits, most likely part of the foundation she came from, in front of her. One of them holding a specialized type of gun he was told to use if she went berserk.

The gun was shot and extreme pain flowed through the right side of her body as she placed her left hand over her right shoulder.

"What? Surprised? We were one step ahead of you... Unit-304."

"..."

"Why don't you come back with us? Don't worry, you just needed a few more tests you know? Or maybe we should just obliterate you and create a new one!"

He shot at the female once again, this time on her other shoulder.

"AGH!"

She screamed in pain as she fell forward, one of the men ran to her and kicked the side of her face. She was now laying on her side, shot on both shoulders, sparks flying out of the injuries. The assumed leader went up to her, crouched and picked up her head so she could meet him at eye level.

"Right from the beginning I knew I was right in not creating you. Or rather, maybe we should've deleted the emotions of fear and sadness from you... Now... You're just a worthless piece of trash!"

He then grabbed her ponytail as she shrieked. However, even those noises of wanting help didn't bother him. He readied his special weapon and pressed it against her forehead with a large grin across his face.

As soon as he was about to pull the trigger, the sound of something similar to a sword striking the air got closer to him. It was revealed to be a hammer with a silver metallic cylinder connected to a strong wooden handle, that stroked him on the face which caused him to fall backwards. His partners stood confused before becoming scared once a certain person in red revealed themselves.

"It's not nice to hit-a lady you know?"

They had an Italian accent, making it clear as day to whom it was. The men who were still standing were afraid that they couldn't do anything. One of them finally took out their weapon, the plumber in red was quicker to respond as he formed two fireballs with his firebrand ability and threw them straight at his weak adversaries.

They both dodged the attack, but while doing so, they dropped their guns. Mario went over to pick up the one who got hit by his hammer earlier.

"Here, catch-a."

He throws the unconscious enemy at his partners as they caught him.

"You wouldn't-a want to fight someone like me I can tell you that-a much."

The plumber picked up his hammer and stored it in his infinite sized pocket. He looked at the injured female, slowly picked her up and ran as fast as he could to a hospital.

Although... While running, he took notice of the sparks coming from her shoulders and the fact that her body didn't feel like she was actual flesh and blood. Yeah, Hospitals wouldn't be able to help her. However, a good professor he knows is an expert in machinery, he could help.

Mario runs past the clinic and made his way through a forest that connected Mushroom City to Evershade Valley, the female slowly opening her eyes and looking up at the one who saved her before closing them again.

Mario knocked on the professor's shack's door repeatedly until the elder with the lab coat finally opened it.

"Oh, Mario! What seems to be the problem-"

"You're an expert in machinery right?"

"Huh? Well yeah-"

"Can you try I fix her?"

He tells the professor as he looked at the female Mario was carrying. Sparks still flying out as E. Gadd fixed his glasses.

"W-Well... I can try... But I might need to also create a completely different new machine to help her..."

"Anything helps, Professor-a. I just want to see her get through this-a."

He says as he looked at the injured unit. E. Gadd sighs as he lead the way to a different room.

"Just lay her down on that table. I'll see what I can do, for now, why don't you go rest in the other room?"

"No can do, I'm going to stay here and make sure nothing-a goes wrong."

The professor looked at the plumber who was now sitting down at the opposite side of the room. Mario had a serious expression as E. Gadd had no other choice, but to let him stay.

After what seemed like days, when it only felt like hours, the female slowly woke up with the light hitting her face before blocking it with her hands.

She sat up straight on the table, taking notice of her now fixed shoulders. She didn't feel any pain whatsoever, probably because she was dead asleep.

"You awake now-a?"

He looked like he just woke up. The female looked down before slowly nodding.

"Don't-a worry about the Professor-a. He just went to go get some things-a at the store."

The plumber stood up and then walked towards her.

"I'm-"

"No need for your introduction-a. I'm Mario by the way, I already know who you are actually."

The female had formed a surprised expression. He took a sip of his coffee the professor generously gave him earlier.

"The world's-a first robot to have perfect human emotions-a and thought process-a... Or something like that-a... It was on the news a few days ago I think-a..."

"They give you a name?"

"... U-... Unit-304..."

The plumber in red raised an eyebrow before setting his cup of coffee down.

"U-Unit-304? That doesn't-a sound very memorable to me... Tell you what-a, as soon as the Professor comes back and upgrades you with some things–"

("which he hasn't told me yet because he says it's-a secret..."), He mumbles to himself before continuing.

"–I'll give you a full tour around these areas-a! What do you say... Shigura?"

Once she heard the very last part of his sentence, she turned to him.

"Sh...Shigura?"

Mario didn't respond. All he did was give off a smile. The one that didn't have a name before, felt the common expression of happiness. She place her hand on her chest and repeated what he said to herself.

"Shigura... Shigura... Shigura..."

She had a name now... She was now no longer 'Unit-304' like before. She had an actual name given to her by someone not from the place she was created in.

"... That sounds like a wonderful idea... Mario."

The plumber gave off got a smile that became burned into her memory. She returned the favor with her own.


	9. Chapter 9

_Super Mario and Characters ©︎ Nintendo. Only the Original Characters are my own._

* * *

 _ **C**_ _ **hapter 9**_

"Hey, Nico, can you take this to Room A-7?", Aihara told Nico.

"Hm? What's this?"

"What else could it be, silly? It's the decorations and costumes for the Maid Café!"

She said with a smile as she opened the box up revealing the maid outfits for the girls as well as suits for the boys.

"Since when did the school decide it was a good idea to have a maid café?"

He says with not very much amusement.

"Aw, come on, dude, you don't want to see girls in maid outfits serving their masters?"

Said a familiar voice. Said voice came from Charles one of Nico's and Aihara's friends.

"Nah, I-I think I'm good..."

Nico responds. The blue haired female setting the box in front of him just so she could place her hands on her hips.

"Man, sometimes you're not fun... Anyways, why don't you go take it?"

Nico stood up and picked up the box that was given to him.

"Not to be rude, Aihara, but why can't you do it?"

"Well, I have to do some work on that stage play that we'll be doing for the festival. Heh heh..."

She says with a smirk and while also rubbing her hands together like if she was a villain.

"Uh... O-Kay...? You better not do anything quote on quote funny"

"Oh trust me... I won't~"

She says as she zooms off. Charles scratches the back of his neck.

"I don't know about you, man, but I have a very bad feeling about this..."

Kojo nods as he exits the classroom in order to take the decorations and outfits to the café, Charles also following. He has his reasons.

Upon opening the door to the correct a room, a certain girl comes up to him while placing a finger on her mouth and winking after twirling around in her own customized outfit.

"Welcome home, Master~"

She said, Charles came in front of Nico and fixed his glasses with a smirk…

"Why, yes, thank you-"

... Only to be pushed to the side by her as she wrapped her arms around Nico and looked at him seductively. Unsure what to do, he gulps and speaks.

"U-Uh... Th-thanks, Rei?"

The girl, known as Rei, gets closer.

"Aw, what? Aren't you excited to see me in a Maid Outfit?~"

"N-No...? Not really... Look, I just came to drop these off alright? I have other important things to do. Maybe Aihara needs me right now or something..."

He says, placing the box on the table, Rei still holding on to him.

"Come on, why don't you help with the maid-"

"Thanks for the offer, but absolutely not."

Nico quickly denies it as she lets go of him. Of course, her feelings weren't hurt, she was just playfully teasing him. Charles got up and stood next to Rei who watched Nico leave.

"... There's always m-"

"No. Don't be so desperate."

"?!... Denied again…"

* * *

"Alrig- No, more to the left!"

Commanded Aihara. She, along with many others, had been working on the stage for the play. It was originally going to be in the middle of the football field, but it was moved to its own area as it was decided to have the field be used for events like Track & Field. Kurushima stood next to Aihara.

"You sure about this play, Kendo?"

"Hm? Of course! We already have all the roles filled out except for Dorothy..."

"Dorothy?"

"Mhm! Since most of the attendees will be children, we thought it'd be a good idea to make the play based off of Wizard of Shroom!"

"So it'll be like every play ever? Don't you think that's a bit repetitive?"

"Well... What other play is there?"

"Well, there's Romeo and Juliet..."

"..."

"Kendo?"

"...!"

The blue haired girl smiles and chuckled after patting Kurushima's back a few times.

"Aha! That's a great idea! Why didn't I think of that?"

"... Then again... I don't think kids will really have enough attention span to watch it... I guess Wizard of Shroom is good enough..."

Aihara crosses her arms.

"Man... I was excited to do that too..."

"You do realize that you'd have to take everything down in order to do it, right?"

"... Maybe next year..."

Only a few days until the festivities begin. Over the past few days, everyone continued putting in the finishing touches to each of their areas. Some students were given their schedules on what events they're going to partake in. Back in class, Nico looked over his own, he… unfortunately got Track & Field. A sport where... he isn't... all that good at.

"I am... so dead..."

Aihara tries to cheer him up.

"Oh come on, Nico! It ain't so bad! You can be like one of those people who are last and then are like "oh no way am I going to lose this!" and then sprint with all their might towards the finish line!"

She recited to him in a ecstatically while also doing a pose for each specific part of her statement.

"... Yeah..."

"Look-"

Aihara wraps her arm around him.

"-my point is that you can do it no matter how weak you are! There are those people who were weak, but overcame many difficult obstacles!"

Nico couldn't believe she was being kind of philosophical. However, with her type of personality... it surprisingly fits.

"What's worse is that mom's gonna watching..."

"Then I guess you should try and, as they say on the interwebs, "git gud"!"

"Gee, thanks, I feel so much better now..."

"Nooooo problem!", She responds with a smile, not understanding it was a sarcastic reply.

"Well, I have to go get a good night's rest for the next few days. You know, gotta ready up for the events!"

She says as she gets in a fighting stance and punches the air a few times before taking off. Nico sighs before storing the schedule in his pocket, still thinking he's dead. He wonders, Why couldn't they pick someone else like Aihara who's actually pretty fast? Or Kisha? Well... Then again, Kisha would win automatically due to her ability…

He wanders back home and just flops onto his bed. He makes sure to turn the alarm off because he thinks alarms don't do anything. Probably because he's a heavy sleeper.

Concurrently taking place while the school was getting ready, Mario had given Shigura a tour of the areas that surrounded them. From Toad Town, to Mushroom City, to the Mushroom High, etcetera! Afterwards, he'd take her to a small restaurant inside Coconut Mall where he also invited Debrie and Lydia as they had nothing to do and were okay with having some R&R. Both Mario and Shigura sat on other ends of the table in front of the other two.

"Ooh, who's this?"

Debrie questions with interest. Shigura would then bow a bit before answering it herself.

"I'm Shigura, it's a pleasure to meet you."

She says smiling afterwards. Debrie nods before Lydia speaks.

"Right back at 'ya. The one in the robe is Debrie, and I'm Lydia. So you're the one Mario gave a tour to. Didn't know it'd be someone like you considering your... Robotic appearance."

Shigura looks at her shoulders, her hips, and kneecaps before giving off a nervous chuckle. Debrie stood up.

"I have an idea, why don't we go buy you some clothes? I mean after all, you can't go walking around like that! Uh... N-No offense! Not saying you look ugly!"

She says, her expression changing from cocky to being worried that she might've offended the potential ally. The human-like robot shakes her head.

"N-no, it's fine!"

"Phew...", Debrie let out a sigh of relief. Lydia stood up.

"I think that's a good idea. Though I wish I could go, I have to get ready for the festival tomorrow."

She says slightly disappointed, but smiles afterwards. Mario nods as well.

"I trust-a you Debrie, just make sure you don't get into too much danger-a... Head back to my place when you two are done."

Debrie gives a military salute.

"Yes, Sir! Mario, Sir!"

Shigura looks at Debrie as she did it and then back at Mario who then gave her a pat on the head. Both of them smiled. It's as if they were actually brother and sister. Lydia also smiled once more before she and Mario took their leave.

"Now then! I know the perfect place! Shopping montage gooooo!"

The girl in robes shouted as she grabbed ahold of Shigura's hand and took her to the many clothing stores within the mall. Most not having what Shigura wanted as when Debrie picked one, she'd shake her head. When walking to others, many would look at Shigura weirdly, some even asking for pictures as they knew she was the robot with human emotions. Debrie would jump in and help her escape from them.

"Man… I could go for a Mushroom Shake right about now. Finding good clothes for you is really hard, Shigura... Hm? Shigura?"

Debrie looks behind her, Shigura looked at a blouse on one of the mannequins with a brown jacket over it and blue jeans. Her eyes were really fixated on it which got Debrie to take her inside and look at it even more closely.

"3000 Coins for that combo? Hm..."

She took out her own wallet that Mario bought for her and checked how much she had. With how rich Mario was, he had given her tons of coins. She was sure Mario would understand if she bought the 3000 Coin priced clothes combo. It wasn't the last one, but it was the one that had the lowest price. After they purchased it, Shigura got the bag and went over to the dressing room to put it on. Debrie waited outside and looked inside her wallet.

"Now I don't have enough for the Nintendo Switch... Aww..."

She closed it. Just then, the door opened and out came Shigura in her new outfit. Debrie couldn't even see the robotic parts and had sparkles in her eyes with her hands clasped together.

"You look so perfect in it, Shigura!"

Shigura extended the lower half of the blouse before releasing it and smiled at the small girl in front of her.

"Th-thanks, Debrie..."

Debrie gave a nod as the two exited the store and then the mall. The petite female would feel the presence of someone watching them. She turned around and looked.

"Something wrong, Debrie?", Asked Shigura, Debrie looked back at her and shook her head.

"Must've been my imagination or something..."

She thought to herself before catching up to the robot. While heading home, Debrie tells Shigura where the school is since that's the place the festival will held in. Mario and Lydia had time to spare so they're also going to it, Shigura nods at the info given to her before the two separated. Shigura's new home was now E. Gadd's laboratory back in Evershade Valley. Both of them returned home safely, Debrie telling Mario about what she bought for Shigura.

"Well, that's good to hear-a."

"Mhm!"

"The festival's tomorrow huh... Reminds me of when I faced a certain hedgehog during the Olympics-a."

"A certain hedgehog?"

"Yeah. It's... A long story-a…", he smiled.

"... Hey... Mario...?"

"Hm?"

"When this is... you know... all over... Can we go on an adventure just the two of us around the world? I mean... I know we'll do that either way because of Dimentio, but... I'm sure we won't be able to go everywhere..."

The plumber stood up and once again patted her head.

"Sure, Kiddo... Promise me... We will-a."

He says as he extended his pinky finger, Debrie soon to follow as they both clasped each other's pinky fingers lightly and smiled while also touching each others heads. Though Debrie did it a little bit too hard, even then they both laughed it off. It really was almost like a relationship between a brother and his little sister.

 _First Friday of August_

It's the day of the festival. Mario and Debrie had met up with Shigura at Toad Town. Lydia hasn't come yet, but Mario figured she'd be waiting at the school.

At the school, Lydia had been waiting for the others while sitting and taking a drink from the soda she bought from one of the stands. Not long after, the rest of her group arrived.

"Well, aren't you guys late...", She states. Debrie crosses her arms.

"Sorry that we don't live close to the school like you do!", The girl in robes responded. Lydia sighed before looking at Shigura in her new outfit.

"Hey, lookin' good there, Shi!"

"Oh, uh, thanks!"

Mario sat on the opposite end.

"So, is there a schedule?"

The plumber asked, the light-brown haired woman set her drink down and took out a neatly folded piece of paper. It had all the "need-to-know" information on it going from the exact times of an event to what each room in the school contained and even a whole map showing where things will take place.

"What a way to make a brochure..."

The plumber stated, knowing the fact that it can't be called a brochure due to its size.

"Okay, but where are the food stops?"

Debrie questioned as she got close to Mario in order to see the paper.

"What is it-a with you and food, Debrie? We just finished breakfast-a not too long ago."

"Whaaat? When did I say I wanted some now? I just... want to know is all..."

"Well... Seems like this whole area is specifically for food so-"

Debrie looked at him with a smile. The plumber sighed and gave her 5000 coins. Enough for her to eat whatever... or at least.. he hopes. She grabbed the money and stuffed it in her wallet.

"Hm... Seems like the first event-a is just... regular Dodgeball-"

The 3 females that surrounded him all replied with just one word.

"Pass."

Mario blinked and shrugged.

"Well then... What did Dodgeball ever do to you...?"

He lowered the paper. Just a few feet away, within the crowd of people, was a man in a black suit who stared at the quartet, mainly at Shigura. The plumber was seen talking to them in a regular fashion. The figure then continued walking a bit closer, but also making sure not to get noticed. He turned on his earpiece which was made for a specific purpose. It allowed him to listen in on conversations.

"-Yeah, so the next event at 12:28 is the Track & Field race. Nico's gonna participate in it."

"Really?"

"Mhm. Just hoping he doesn't make a fool out of himself."

The figure in black shut the earpiece off and walked away with no expression on his face.

"12:28... Duly noted..."

At around the same time, the others did their part within the festival as Nico walked with Aihara and Kurushima. He also looked at the list of events.

"Just an hour or so until the Track & Field…"

He says in a saddened tone. Aihara, who was in her sports outfit due to a previous event, patted his back.

"Oh come on, Nico, don't be such a downer!"

"It's just a game, Kojo. No one's going to kill you over it."

"Have you been training?", Aihara questioned. The male shook his head.

"Nope..."

"Whaaat?!"

The blue haired girl quickly steps in front of him, Nico stopped dead in his tracks.

"Why haven't you?!"

"U-Uh... Do you really expect me to train in the middle of the night?! I got home real tired that day!"

"... Alrighty then... You win this argument this time, but next time, you won't be so lucky!"

Kurushima just stared at the two while letting out a sigh and walked forward.

"Come on, Lovebirds, we still have things to do before that event officially begins."

Both Nico and Aihara ran towards him saying the same thing.

"We're not a thing okay?!"

Meanwhile, a group of students came up to a female who was non-other than Seika Kisha, a Rank 7 Inducer. All of them were in the same class year, with one of the students stepped in front of the long brown-haired girl.

"Oh, come on. With you on our team, we'll be unstoppable! You'll literally just win under a second!"

The female sighed and moved her hair to the side.

"No, thanks. I'd rather not be associated with cheaters like you. Why don't you guys actually, oh I don't know… try winning? Besides, I have other things to do."

"But-!"

One of the students spoke, but ended up being cut off by her just walking off. The group were pretty upset that they couldn't get her on their side, though they also know not to mess with someone like her. They decide to leave, she released a sigh of relief. Upon walking a few more steps, she's stopped by Kurushima.

"Hey, Sei'"

"Hm? Oh, hey, 'Shima, I was just about to go look for you."

Seika backed up a bit in order to be next to him.

"That concession stand here is up and running. You up for it?"

"Hm? Yeah, sure. I have nothing better to do."

Seika, while the two were making their way to the concession stand area, turned to Kanzaki.

"Hey, where's Nico and Aihara?"

"We were together until they both had to leave and do their own thing."

"Honestly kind of glad for that. Just the two of us. Not... To sound rude or anything."

"I know, I know... You want the both of us to spend more time together."

Seika smiled which was a really rare occurrence to many others. She's only ever truly smiled in front of Kurushima which has always been one thing he's been wanting to change, he wants her to smile at more than just him. The two have been together for about a year and a half. Upon seeing her smile, he does the same before she continues heading forward.

"Last one there is a rotten egg!"

"Hm? Oh come on, Seika! You know I can't-"

Before he finished his sentence, the female speeds off, causing large amounts of wind and dirt to spread out. Most of the people covered their eyes in order to avoid getting dirt in them, Kurushima also did this. Most looked in awe.

"- win... at all..."

Kurushima sighs and scratches the back of his neck before putting his hands in pockets of his jacket. He chuckles.

"She's the fastest person alive thanks to the help of her Velocity Break and yet she wants me to race her when she'll win instantly? Hmhm... That's so you, Seika…"

He smiles before running off to catch up to her.

 _Velocity Break (速度壊す [ベロシティブレイク])_ \- This Inducer ability allows the user to go at extreme speeds. Those born with the ability have a small change within their bodies which allow them to safely run at these speeds. If it weren't for this small change, they'd have to deal with excruciating pain due to their insides not being able to handle high speeds. There are two known/common categories of speeds for Velocity Break: Speed of Sound and Speed of Light.

Seika, who was now waiting at a table for Kurushima, was looking at a small notepad full of pages with numbers alongside words such as 'Acceleration' and 'Velocity'. She's been working hard in reaching the speed of light, she's only barely two-thirds of the way through. It takes months or years (depending on the user themselves) in order to go at a faster speed. She puts it away as Kanzaki approach her. The male starts panting.

"Why'd you run? You were gonna lose anyways, 'Shima."

"I know... So I just decided... it should be a small exercise…"

Kurushima continues panting before going to get food from the concession stand. She once again waits until he comes back with the food. Of course, he didn't really need to ask her as he knew what she wanted. He took a seat next to her afterwards. It was quiet for a bit until Kisha showed her lover the notepad that contained all the numbers relating to her speed training.

"You still with that? How long have you been doing this, Seika?"

"Eh, about a few months, give or take. I just... I don't know... I want to go at the speed of light so badly... I mean, I know it probably won't make much of a difference, but still..."

"... Why don't you take a break? You really need it, Sei'."

Kurushima responds, the female taking a bite into her food and then taking a sip from her drink before setting it down on the table.

"I guess... Maybe you're right… Maybe I'm just putting too much energy into this."

The male looked at his phone before putting it away.

"The Track & Field Event is about to start soon..."

"Huh? The event Nico's taking part of?"

"Yeah. You going?"

"Sadly I can't... I was called in yesterday. Told me to set things up for the event after Track & Field..."

"I assume you'll be there for that one?"

"Yeah, definitely."

Few more minutes passed. Kurushima stood up.

"Track & Field's about to begin. I'll see you later."

Seika, after standing from her seat, tiptoes up to him and gives him a kiss on the cheek before using her ability to speed off. Out of nowhere comes Aihara who shakes him by the shoulders and then holds on to his hand in order to drag him to the stadium.

"You're gonna be late for Nico's event, silly!"

Kurushima sighs and lets out a soft chuckle as he continues getting pulled by his female classmates.

Back at the stadium, the Track & Field Event was about to begin. A certain man in a suit stood behind the bleachers ready to strike. They opened their hand and faced their palm towards the ground, dirt particles forming a large solid hammer.

"Unit-304..."

The man whispers while looking at Shigura from a far distance. She was chatting with Mario, Lydia and Debrie while they waited for the event to initiate.

"I will make you... My puppet..."


	10. Chapter 10

_Super Mario and Characters ©︎ Nintendo. Only the Original Characters are my own._

* * *

 ** _Chapter 10_**

 **Part I**

 _First Friday of August, 12:28 PM_

The Track & Field event is about to begin.

The participants took their places on the track while the crowds watched. Mario and his companions in the front row.

"Heeeey…!"

The voice of a girl reached Lydia. She was waving her hand before slowly walking over to the empty seats next to Shigura.

"Hm? Oh, it's you." Lydia responded. The voice belonged to the bubbly blue-haired girl, Aihara.

"I never actually got your name."

Aihara sat down next to Shigura. Before she replied to Lydia, Kurushima walked to them as well before taking his seat next to Aihara.

"Aihara Kendo, ma'am!"

She let out a smile before pointing to the gray-haired individual next to her.

"This is-"

"-Kurushima Kanzaki. Great to meet'cha."

"What he said…!"

Lydia nodded and introduced the rest of her allies to them.

On the field, Nico sighed and nervously got ready. His opponents did too. The use of Inducer abilities in this event is forbidden, so he can't ice-skate to victory. The timer on the billboard lit up and started at 10.

The announcer grabbed the mic.

"Hello and welcome to the Track & Field event! This event is self-explanatory, complete three laps. Inducer abilities are forbidden! Looks like the contestants are ready…!"

The '10' on the billboard counted down. 9, 8, 7… 3, 2, 1…

As soon as 'GO' appeared, the announcer yelled 'GO!' at the same time.

And thus, they were off. Some of the participants struggled, Nico maintained his speed and entered 4th Place. He was still far from passing 3rd Place, but it's something.

"Woah look at them go…!"

The announcer exclaimed over the mic.

Lap 2.

Nico began losing speed, slowly entering 5th Place.

"(Damn…!)"

Behind the bleachers, the man from before crouched a bit before launching himself into the air.

As soon as Nico reached the center of the opposite side of the track, a large rumble echoed throughout the stadium. The entire area became covered in dust. The impact had caused some of the players some injuries and were sent backwards. Nico held on and blocked the dust from coming in contact with his eyes using his arms.

The crowd sat in shock, everybody ran off screaming. Even the announcer ran. Mario, Lydia, Debrie, Shigura, Aihara and Kurushima hopped over the small fence and into the stadium.

"Nico!"

Lydia yelled. The boy coughed before running to Lydia.

"Are you alright?!"

"Y-yeah… I'm fine."

"What the hell…?"

Kurushima squinted his eyes to try and see through the dust.

The dust slowly cleared in an unusual manner. They circled around the one who had caused it before dispersing. The man in a suit that had landed in the stadium slowly stood up with his eyes close before opening them.

"Hey! Who are you?!"

Asked Lydia. The figure looked over to Shigura.

"... You are here I see."

Shigura stepped back a bit with a worried expression.

"Answer my question, damn it!"

The male sighed.

"Ningyo Mekiki."

He pointed to Shigura.

"One of her owners."

Mario quickly stepped in front of Shigura.

"So you're here to retrieve her huh…?"

"Correct."

"Screw your retrieval!", yelled Lydia.

"Don't you see? Unit-304 still needs to go through some experiments. If you don't comply, she will get destroyed."

"You're going to destroy her anyways-a, I know it and I won't allow it-a!"

"Hm… I see… What a shame that is then."

"I don't know what's going on, but if what Mario says is true, then if you really want Shigura that badly, you'll have to get through us…!"

Aihara exclaimed. Once again, Ningyo sighed. He held onto the hammer he previously created.

"You realize we outnumber you right?" Debrie told Ningyo.

"Being outnumbered means nothing."

The hammer in his left hand. He lifted his free right arm and opened his hand. The particles of dust from the ground slowly rose while twisting and turning. It all manifested into the form of a hand. It started as a fist until it opened up. Nico stood next to Lydia shocked.

"What… Inducer ability is that…?"

"It's not an Inducer ability.", Debrie responded as she closed her eyes while maintaining a serious face. The markings on her sleeves glowed, her hair flowed in the wind.

"It's an ability that allows him to create anything using particles of dust, planks of wood, etcetera."

"So… An Inducer ability.", Aihara replied. Debrie's hair stopped flowing, her markings stopped glowing as she shook her head.

"It's not. What she means is that it's earned. He wasn't born with it."

Mario replies for Debrie. Ningyo smirked slightly.

"Impressive. So you're the one with the Light Prognosticus. I guess I can take you down while taking back Unit-304."

Mario takes out his hammer. He holds it with his right hand while extending his left arm in front of Debrie.

"You're not taking down Debrie. Not when I'm around-a."

"... That so…? Hm. In that case."

The hand formed by the dust from their surroundings closed into a fist.

"May you rot in the Underwhere."

The dust arm pulled back before launching itself towards Mario. Mario's hammer definitely wouldn't be a match for something of that mass. Lydia jumped in front of him and swayed her right arm to the left and then to the ground, creating a black-purple shield.

The arm collided. Once it did, it was destroyed. The dust particles slowly falling to the ground. Lydia put the shield away.

During that time, Ningyo had been speeding towards them.

"! Damn-!"

Lydia attempted to create a weapon, but was hit by Ningyo's own dust-made sword which then got destroyed. Lydia was sent back, after gaining her balance, she wiped the small amount of blood dripping from her cheek.

"... (It's a one time use…)"

Nico looked at their opponent. He opened his palm to create an icicle share and threw it towards Ningyo.

Ningyo looked over to the shard heading his way. He creates a shield which shatters upon being hit by Nico's attack.

"Alright-a… I'm still trying to figure out a pattern…"

Mario gets lost in thought before looking at Nico. He was running towards the enemy.

"H-hey! Wait-a!"

Kojo formed an ice sword and aimed at Ningyo who then moved to the side.

"?!"

Nico's sword strikes the ground. Ningyo elbows the ice user's side before kicking him in the stomach.

"Gah!"

Nico maintains his foothold before grabbing his stomach with an eye closed. Aihara rushed in as Kurushima extended his arm.

"Wait! Stop, Kendo! We need a strategy first…!"

Aihara spun around, ending with a kick that has spawned a small tornado.

"Interesting."

Ningyo looked at the attack coming his way.

"But not good enough."

Once the tornado got close enough, he extended and swayed his left hand to the right. The dirt particles contained within the tornado dispersed before forming a large fist to Ningyo's right.

Aiming straight for Aihara, she opened her palm which shot out intense winds. Her plan was to slow the fist down.

Kurushima stepped on the ground lightly with his left foot. The ground he stood on broke and part of the ground tipped upwards, the other half into the ground. Using this, he launched himself in front of Aihara and took his right hand out. Kendo quickly stopped using her ability, the dirt-like fist sped up.

Kurushima closed his eyes. Once he opened them, the incoming attack was close enough.

Ningyo's fist made of dirt.

Kurushima's opened hand.

The two attacks collided. A pause. Ningyo's attack came into contact with Kurushima's palm.

The dirt hand slowly collapsed. Kurushima was completely unharmed as he put his hand back in his jacket's pocket.

"...?!"

"Every fight needs a strategy.", Kurushima says, turning to Aihara.

Ningyo stood there silently.

"Oh. So you're one of the Rank 7's… Break Outer… correct?"

Kurushima's ability is named Break Out. However, his nickname among many is Break Outer.

"Yeah. What of it? I think we've noticed that most of your attacks can't do crap since they go away after they collide with something once. As it stands, you'd lose to someone like me."

"Hmhm.", Ningyo chuckled.

"That so? I haven't even used most of my power yet."

Ningyo lifted his right arm upwards and looked to the sky.

"I guess it's time to show you."

Rrrumble…!

The ground shook. The group maintained their footing. Dirt… Well… Not only Dirt, but rocks, cement, and gravel were brought to Ningyo. All the materials gathered behind him and started creating some sort of an upper body. Extreme winds surrounded the field. A large hand rose from the ground to the right of Ningyo, it placed itself palm-first onto the ground which caused a small shockwave. The area around the hand cracked. Another arm to the left of Ningyo emerged from the left side of the giant.

It's formation was complete. It lifted its right arm up and let out a roar.

"What… Is that thing…?!"

Lydia questioned.

"Spirit of the Giant… Inscae.", Debrie responded. Mario raised a brow.

"That's what it's called-a?"

"Yes. It's a duplicate of the great giant I mentioned: Inscae."

"I've never even heard of that-a…"

Ningyo let out a smirk.

"Ah yes… May Inscae's power give me the strength I need."

Ningyo opened his arms wide. Once again, the creature created roared. Mario and the rest of the group tool their battle stances. Nico formed three ice shards and aimed them towards the opponent. Upon contact, the shards broke.

"?!... Definitely stronger now…"

"Alright… Then let's try this."

Kurushima ran towards the giant, it then faced towards Kurushima's direction. The Rank 7 super-jumped to the creatures' eye level. The Giants' right hand aimed at Kanzaki. Once his foot came into contact with the creature, the hand slowly disappeared… Only to reform immediately. It swayed from the right to the left to push away Kurushima.

Kanzaki landed once more on the hand before using it to come back to the ground.

"Damn… Break Out's no use…"

"Not even an Inducer ability can touch Inscae…!"

"Tch… I can't use my wind abilities… It'll only help him..!"

Aihara stepped back a bit. Shigura had been watching things unfold, not participating in the fight. Mario and Lydia looked at each other and nodded before speeding towards Ningyo. Sharp, knife-looking weapons were formed by surrounding cement and heading straight for the duo. Lydia creates a sword to completely obliterate the attacks, Mario using his metallic hammer.

"Impressive, but you're gonna need more than that…!", Exclaimed Ningyo as the giant roared, it aimed a fist at the two.

Mario slowed down his running before placing his hammer in front of him. Lydia did the same, though creating a shield.

The punch collided. It had sent Mario back while Lydia's shield withstood it.

"Mario…!"

Mario smashed his hammer onto the ground to decrease the length of his knockback. He lifted the weapon off the ground.

"Are you alright?"

Aihara asked. Mario nodded.

"Yeah. I've faced-a worse before."

Lydia side-stepped and threw a lance at Ningyo, only to be blocked.

"Gh…"

"Nice try, but that won't work. You just left yourself opened."

Ningyo commanded the monster. It aimed another punch at Lydia. She created a shield once more, but upon collision, it was hurting her body.

"G-Gh…! (Damn Damn Damn…! If I keep resisting. My body will give out… I can't get out of the way either!)"

"Let your last minutes on this planet be your worst."

Lydia started giving away. Nico's ice wouldn't be able to do anything. Nor Aihara's or Kurushima's. As Mario was about to run, Shigure rushed by him.

"NOOOOOO…!"

Shigura slowed down and aimed her fingers at the head of the creature. Her left arm transforms to that of a gun as she starts shooting. Eventually, one of the bullets hits the "eyes" of the giant which causes it to stop trying to crush Lydia.

"N-No…!", Ningyo exclaimed his dissatisfaction.

While it didn't do much, it still gave Shigura enough time to pick Lydia up and jump back a few feet to where the others stood. The 'eyes' of the creature reformed after letting out a roar. Shigura put Lydia down.

"Holy crap, if I had resisted more, I would've been crushed… Thanks, Shigura…"

Lydia panted while looking at Shigura. The latter nodded. Ningyo clicked his tongue.

"We should've destroyed you a long time ago."

Shigure aimed her arm towards Ningyo and began shooting. The giant creature covered Ningyo, the sound of bullets ricocheting surrounding him. At this moment, Mario came up with a strategy. It seems Kurushima did as well since he looked over to the red plumber. Both nodded.

"Shigura. Stop-a."

"?"

The bullets from her arm slowed down, though her entire arm still in the shape of a weapon. Kurushima looked towards the enemy. Before continuing, shards from Ningyo headed toward them. At that point, Nico created an ice wall to protect the entire group.

"The monster only has 2 arms and it apparently can't grow legs."

"Meaning that-a it can only have two limbs. If you shoot at Ningyo, the creatures' right arm will protect him-a."

Mario looked at Nico and Aihara before he let Kurushima continue.

"I want the both of you to go to the opposite side and start sending out projectiles. If you do that, the left arm will protect Ningyo's left. It'll have the monster too busy protecting its master with both arms that it'll give us-a time to go behind it and attack Ningyo."

Nico and Aihara look at each other and nod. They give thumbs up to Kurushima and Mario.

"What about us?", Lydia asked. Question what she and Debrie should do.

"Lydia, you're going to come with Kurushima and I to attack. Debrie, you stay behind for support."

Debrie nodded, although sort of disappointed.

"Inscae shall not be defeated. Neither shall I."

Ningyo stated.

"Go!"

Mario shouted. Shigura started firing at the left arm while Nico and Aihara ran over to the right and attack the right arm. As planned, both arms covered Ningyo. Mario, Lydia and Kurushima, like the others, ran along the track. Mario long jumped, Kurushima used his ability to super jump, Lydia used her own powers to form a grappling hook before sending towards the fence.

The three stood behind their enemy.

"Tch… I guess I'll have to deal with you three myself."

Ningyo created two daggers and threw them. Kurushima merely extended his arm, the dagger came into contact with his palm and was destroyed. Mario swung his hammer to the side, it too destroyed the dagger.

As their opponent was about to create something, Kurushima stomped his foot. The ground shook and a crack formed. The crack quickly headed towards Ningyo before his surrounding area finally broke apart which caused him to lose balance.

"Kh…!"

Shigura started slowing down. She was running out of ammo. She lifted her other arm, transformed it to another gun and started shooting.

Aihara and Nico started tiring out.

"Damn it…!"

Even then, the two continued. Lydia created an arm which grabbed Mario.

"W-woah!"

"I'm going to launch you towards him…! Get ready because here… I… Go!"

She swung her arm in a way mimicked how someone would throw a baseball. The hand released Mario.

"N-No!"

Ningyo creates infinite amounts of spears. Mario, in mid-air, swung his hammer in a circle, making sure not to let go of the item.

"?!"

Ningyo stopped for a second and coughed out blood.

"(I've been… abusing-)"

Before finishing his thought, Mario had cleared the spears in his path.

"Cheap-a trick trying to come after us in the middle of an event! You may not want to stop… But I will make you… How does stopping you right now sound?!"

And with that, Mario swung his hammer to the left side of Ningyo's face. Ningyo flew back after a spin in the air and landed on his back. The giant roared until ultimately, finally collapsing slowly. Shigura, Nico and Aihara stopped their attacks.

Smoke from the giant's collapse surrounded them. Aihara created a tornado to bring all the smoke in and with a snap of her fingers, it vanished, taking the smoke along with it.

Mario panted before setting his hammer on the ground. Ningyo laid unconsciously on the ground, a big bruise on the side of his face resulting from the plumber's attack.

"And down for the count.", Lydia says as she stood next to Mario.

"I'll go alert the security."

Kurushima spoke. Mario turned around and nodded. Kanzaki, once again, super jumped to alert them faster just in case. Debrie sighed of relief, so did Nico and Aihara.

Shigura returned her arms to normal.

"No more bullets."

She whispers to herself.

"Yo', that was some of the best aim I've ever seen!"

Nico patted Shigura's back, a smile formed on her face.

It took some time, but security… finally came?

"Hey, is this where the incident occurred? Just making sure."

She had short hair, wore a vest and had in black shoes and jeans. She walked towards the group in the middle of the stadium.

"Man did you guys make a mess…"

The woman spoke.

"It wasn't us! It was… What was his name again?"

Aihara pointed to Ningyo. The woman sighed and signaled some of her officers to pick up and arrest the intruder.

"Wait… Aren't you…?", Lydia raised an eyebrow.

"Hm? Oh… Right, I guess I should tell you. Name's Hinubou Kuwatsu, I'm from Institute."

"Institute? Oh them!", Debrie exclaimed.

 _Institute (保安慣例 [インツティトゥート])_ ; the Mushroom Kingdom's new peacekeeping force. All around the kingdom, they are called when something regular officers can't handle. It is one of the toughest jobs to have and needs extensive three month training to be part of it. It ranges from normal people without Inducer abilities and Inducers themselves.

"The regular officers were too afraid to even check the situation. Good thing one of your buddies came over to us in time… However… It seems you took care of the incident already. No matter, at least we have apprehended the suspect."

Says Hinubou as Kurushima entered the area.

"Was anybody injured?," Hinubou continued.

"Just me I guess… But it's just a scratch. The ones you should be worried about-," Nico spoke before being interrupted by the Institute officer.

"The ones that fleed have been checked already. No major injuries which is good."

The others let out sighs of relief.

"You all exit the area. We'll take it from here."

Mario and the rest nodded. As Hinubou watched them leave, she turned around.

"Just what in the world happened here…? In my five years, I haven't seen something of this scale…"

Hinubou got lost in thought before she and her team got back to work.

Mario sat on a desk inside the Nurse's Office. The others as well. Shigura needed to go back to E. Gadd's laboratory in order to fix herself up and add more ammo.

"So what's going to happen to the festival?"

Debrie questioned.

"What happened didn't affect the other events. They said the rest of the festival will keep going, just that the stadium won't be available. All the events that were gonna use it have either been postponed, cancelled or have chosen another location."

Aihara gave her answer to Debrie before asking her own.

"Hey… You said what that guy had wasn't an Inducer ability right?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you know it wasn't?"

It seems the people that weren't Mario and Lydia were generally curious.

"Very well."

Debrie closed her eyes before opening them.

"I could tell it wasn't because it's a Spell. I have the Light Prognosticus embedded into me. A book written by the Ancients with incredible knowledge and spells. Not only could I feel it was one, but it's inscribed in it."

Nico, Aihara and Kurushima looked confused. Kurushima turned to Lydia.

"You don't seem phased by this, Lydia."

"Huh? Oh, it's because I'm like her. I can tell if it's an Inducer ability or not. I… Have the Dark Prognosticus embedded in me. Not the entire thing, just a few pages. It's how I got my power; Nico already knows. Like its Light counterpart, it's a book with with catastrophic spells to counter the Light Prognosticus. Among others."

The chestnut-colored haired woman replied with her answer. Mario stood from the desk.

"There's a difference between Spells from-a the Light and Dark Prognosticus and Inducer abilities-a. Like Debrie said while we fought him-a, Spells… or… essentially Magic, is earned. They both work differently. In a way… some Magic injures the person themselves-a."

Nico and the rest almost couldn't believe what they were hearing. Though, at the same time, it wasn't far-fetched considering the existence of Inducers.

The blue-haired girl, Aihara, turned to Lydia.

"Hold up a minute, you said you only had a "few pages". What happened to the rest."

"I think it's better for Mario to answer that."

She pointed towards Mario.

"I defeated Dimentio once. The Ruler of Dimensions. After that-a, and with the help of the Light Prognosticus, it's Dark counterpart was torn apart. I thought I got rid of him-a for good… until recently."

Debrie continued what Mario was probably going to say anyways.

"He's trying to gather all its pages to put it back together for a completely different plan. We don't know what it is yet, but I don't think any of us want to find out."

Lydia stretched before folding her arms.

"If that Ningyo guy wanted to take Debrie, he must've been part of Dimentio's plans. I mean, yeah he also can't, but you never know. To be honest, I sorta expected a page or two to appear or something after fighting that guy."

At that moment, Debrie remembered something that had occurred back when they fought Yosuru.

"H-hey, Mario, Lydia. Can I talk to you guys about something?"

"Hm? Sure."

Debrie and Mario left the room. Lydia was about to until she stopped right before the exit. She didn't turn around, all she did was speak.

"You were involved in this incident, yes… but… I don't want any of you to get involved with this Dimentio business. It's not that simple. Stay out of trouble."

Lydia left. Nico stood up and was about to object until Kurushima placed his hand on Nico's right shoulder.

"Let's follow her advice. We may have abilities and have the ability to take care of ourselves, but even we have limits to what we can and can't do."

Nico let the words sink in as he frowned a bit. Aihara patted his back.

"H-hey, don't let it get to you. Oh! I know! Listen to Rin's songs!"

She grabbed Nico's arm and dragged him out of the room.

"Agh…! A-Aiharaaaaa!"

They went the opposite way. Kurushima stood there watching the blue-haired girl drag Nico. He sighs and smiles.

"Cute."

* * *

"-It was Shaykunian."

Debrie said. She wanted to talk about something that Yosuru had said.

"Ishkeshtraphen ka monosarius?"

Mario repeated.

"My Shaykunian is not that good-a, but… That means…. Actually… What does it mean-a?"

"Mario, you just said you know a bit of the language."

Lydia responded.

"W-Well… yeah, but… the first word-a doesn't exist in the language… unless it's a combination of words, in which case I can't decipher it-a."

"So much for that then… Then again… If he's Shaykunian, do you think we might find clues over there?"

Lydia questioned.

"That's a possibility, yes, but at the same time, no. If we went over there and we find nothing, we would've gone for nothing-a."

"Damn…"

Metallic footsteps were heard. Debrie turned around.

"Shigura!"

Lydia and Mario turned around as well.

"You feeling better-a?"

"Mhm. Yes. Though, I have someone who wants to talk to you."

A figure caught up and stood next to the robot. She had pink hair, part of it wrapped up in a bun on the right side of her head. White glasses with a red outline, white buttoned-up business suit and a black skirt that reached her knees. Black high-heels.

To Mario, she seemed all too familiar.

"Nastasia…"

The female fixed her glasses and lifted them up slightly with a finger.

* * *

 **Part II**

Kurushima stood outside and looked to the sky. His hands in the pockets of his white jacket.

"'Shima!"

Kurushima looked to his right. The voice belonged to one of the Rank 7 Inducers: Seika Kisha.

A worried expression had formed on her face as she grabbed onto the sleeve of Kanzaki's jacket.

"Are you alright?! I heard about what happened from one of the Institute Officers. Tell m-"

Kanzaki placed a hand on her head.

"I'm fine, Seika. Sorry if I worried you. Let's just say that… something out of the ordinary happened…"

Seika raised a brow in confusion.

"A magician of some sort actually."

"Magician?"

Kurushima nodded.

"Whether you believe me or not, it's the truth."

"... And What happened to the event?"

"Canceled. Some of the other events were affected as well. They were either delayed, or moved to a different area. I'm going to head home."

"Huh? Already?"

Seika seemed surprised.

"Yeah. That fight took a bit out of me. None of the other events really interest me either."

Kurushima looked the other way. Seika let out a small chuckle.

"Right, you were never big on sports in general anyways."

Kurushima chuckled as well. He continued down the few steps in front of the school entrance.

"You'll be here for the other days of the events still right?"

Kurushima looked behind him.

"We'll see."

He responded before continuing forward.

During his walk home, he looked at his phone.

1:57 P.M.

He stopped and looked at the billboard.

"-the use of this new artificially made ability is a big step in the right direction for hospitals' says CEO. The ability is apparently called Pain Taker. Also-"

Kurushima continued his way home. Intrigued in the news that was shown, yet not at the same time. Once he entered his home, he sat down on the couch.

He wouldn't be able to make it to the next day of the festival tomorrow. He had a family member that was kept at a hospital and always visits them every weekend.

"Looks like Airi won't go tomorrow either…"

He said, proving how unstable their relationship is even more. While Step-Brother and Step-Sister, Kurushima didn't care about her a lot and Airi completely despises him.

"* _Sigh_ *... Like a give a damn what she does."

* * *

 **Part III**

The group entered another empty room.

"What are you doing here?," asked the plumber in red. The question was for the lady with pink hair, Nastasia.

The female adjusted her glasses once again.

"Merlon told me about your little… predicament."

"So… You know now as well-a."

Nastasia gave a sigh and nodded.

"At first I didn't want to believe it, but after he told me about recent events, I had to. Tch… That Dimentio really is something…"

She clicked her tongue. Any of Count Bleck's former minions would, especially after what Dimentio did. They had all despised him since then. Before anyone else had the chance to speak, Nastasia questions:

"I've already told O'Chunks myself, but… does Mimi know about this?"

"Uh… I don't think so. I didn't even tell her about it."

The plumber responded.

"Really? Where is she now?"

Nastasia quickly asked.

"She works at a restaurant as a maid-a in the city."

"Guess that's my next destination."

"? You plan to tell her?"

"All of us need to know. After all…"

Nastasia lifted her glasses.

"You don't want what happened to happen again now do you?"

Mario stood there silently without responding. The secretary-like female continued.

"I've spoken to a certain King Koopa. He wants to confront you himself."

Mario knew exactly who she meant. Although reluctant, although this "King Koopa" was his nemesis. He was still a Hero of Light.

The rest were confused except for Mario.

"Alright-a… If he wants a talk, he'll get one."

Nastasia nodded before she left. The sounds of her heels touching the floor echoed throughout the hallway.

Aside from Debrie, Lydia and Shigura. Mario had to agree that bringing the group back together is necessary. As of now, only they know about Dimentio.

Not only do they all have to worry about Dimentio, but they also have to deal with the possibility of him causing chaos outside of Mushroom Kingdom's borders. In the end though, it's inevitable.

Pages of the Dark Prognosticus aren't just scattered in the Mushroom Kingdom alone. They all would appreciate it, it would be easy for not only Dimentio, but the heroes themselves.

Of course, it's not just about taking hold of the pages. Mario and the rest have to take care of Debrie, the walking Light Prognosticus, and Lydia, the one who has a few pages in her.

"Ms. Nastasia mentioned the "King Koopa"... Who is that?"

Asked Debrie. Mario sighed.

"Just wait and see. You three ready?"

Debrie, Lydia and Shigura didn't know what they were getting themselves into. Regardless, they nodded.

* * *

 **Amidst The Action I**

The pink-haired secretary with red-outlined glasses, Nastasia.

She had just left the building and headed towards the city. The location in which Mario mentioned about the whereabouts of Mimi.

She's never been to a large city before. It's all new to her.

Nevertheless, Nastasia continued down the sidewalk that surrounded the large park in the middle of the area.

Mr. Toad's Bakery. The name of a building she stopped in front of. Originally, Mario said that Mimi works at a restaurant. However, right now, she sees the green female sitting down at one of the tables inside.

Nastasia fixed her glasses before entering. Once she did, two beeps sounded. It was usually a sound that occurred mainly in convenience stores when someone opened the doors and entered.

Mimi, 7 meters away on a table. Looked up after taking a sip from her drink. She wore a one-piece blouse. Bright yellow with red polka-dots. Red slip-in shoes. Her green hair was tied into two pony-tails. All this was her casual outfit.

"Oh, hey, Nastasy!"

She exclaimed as she waved to the secretary. Nastasia walked over to the table and took a seat. A blue shy-guy walked over to them and took out a notepad.

It was a way of saying "would you like anything?".

"..."

Mimi had already ordered something. The drink, a Shroom Shake.

"I guess a single Shroom Tea shall suffice."

Nastasia responded, the Shy-Guy wrote it down and left. Mimi took another sip before setting it to the side.

"It's been awhile."

Mimi said.

"Hm… I came to you because I wanted to talk about something important."

Straight to the point. No relaxing. That is the type of person Nastasia is.

"?"

"He's back."

At this moment, Mimi thought she was referring to Count Bleck, or rather… Count Blumiere is what he goes by now.

"Dimentio."

Mimi clicked her tongue. Of course it wouldn't be Blumiere, it would be too good for it to be true. She grabbed her drink with both hands and just stared at it.

"I didn't think I'd ever hear that name again…"

Mimi responded. The blue Shy-Guy came back, set Nastasia's tea on the table and left.

"Wish I never did."

Nastasia didn't apologize. She felt as if Mimi had to know about the situation. A sigh came from the yellow blouse wearing girl.

"Honestly… The first thing that came to mind when I heard his name again was the memories of helping the Count. We became Dimentio's puppets. All of us. While I met you all and thought all of you were cool… All of it has left a bitter taste because of him,"

She set her Shroom Shake down.

"All he was… was an annoying piece of-"

"Mimi."

Nastasia intervened before Mimi cursed.

"... Sorry."

She took a deep breath. The secretary took a sip from her tea.

"So? What about it? What do you want me to do?"

Mimi questioned in an annoyed tone. After setting her drink down, Nastasia spoke.

"Will you be willing to help stop him?"

"..."

Mimi stretched.

"Dunno."

"..."

"Who else-"

"Many people know. I've spoken to O'Chunks and the King of the Koopas himself. Apparently, Mario and a few of his new friends already knew."

"... I guess that means we'll be working together again with those guys huh?"

"As much as I hate to say it, yes. They have the power to do so."

Mimi sighed. While she and Mario, including his friends, have gotten closer, she still doesn't quite like them a lot. It's a mixed feeling really.

"What now?"

The green haired girl asked. Nastasia adjusted her glasses.

"Right now we wait until people involved know the situation."

She took out a notepad and a pen. Starting from the top she drew chibi versions of everybody.

"Aside from you and I. I've told O'Chunks about this. After I did, I went to Mario. As I said he already knew. Along with these three."

She drew Chibi Lydia, Debrie and Shigura.

"Hah? Who are they?"

"Didn't have the time to ask them. So for now, let's call them Ally One, Two, and Three. They will be heading to King Koopa's home land to talk about it. And I'm sure they will also confront greeny and the princess afterwards. Once all that's done, we'll gather at a place that's yet to be decided."

Mimi stretched once again.

"So… What you're saying is that… Right now it's just a patience game until every finished talking."

Nastasia nods. While being one who wanted things done quickly, there wasn't any other way. The green haired girl sighed.

"I guess I should go back to doing my own thing to pass the time."

* * *

 **Part IV**

Red.

A gloomy red sky and blood red clouds.

That is what made up most of the Koopa Kingdom.

The ground was dark brown. It was either due to the gloomy red sky, or it was naturally made that way.

The noise of lava bubbles popping also made a bit of the kingdom.

The Koopa Kingdom. The Mushroom Kingdom's complete opposite in both citizens and of course, government. They have been at war for many decades, generations even. It was like…

Two sides of the same coin.

An extensive bridge led from a pathway between two large mountain sides to a large castle. All concrete with green roofs on most of its towers.

At a balcony on the opposite side of the castle, stood a large, turtle-like figure. A green shell with golden tinted spikes on their back. Reptilian-like skin from head to toe. Orange hair and eyebrows. They had their arms crossed.

This…

Is the King of the Koopas, the Great Demon King.

Bowser.

The Koopa looked in the distance, as if he was lost in thought. This was interrupted by the opening of the red double doors behind him. It was one of his minions, a regular Hammer Bro.

"Hey, Bowser!"

Bowser turned his head slightly to the right.

"?"

"*Ahem!* Someon- some people came by and are waiting outside. It's him, the plumber."

The king unfolded his arms and completely turned around.

"I see, so he did come after all."

He followed the Hammer Bro. through the castle and then to the main foyer. A big statue of himself in the middle. He is in love with himself that much.

Bowser looked on the small screen next to the door.

Indeed. It was the plumber in red, Mario. However, what caught his attention were three other girls. One in a white robe, another with chestnut-colored hair and a girl with their hair in a ponytail.

"Who are they? Whatever… Let them in."

"But, Bowser are y-"

"Let them in."

"Right…"

The Hammer Bro. responded to the King's orders and opened the large red doors.

After a few seconds, Mario and the trio of females slowly entered.

Mario adjusted his iconic red cap. Bowser crossed his arms. Both stood a few meters from each other. The Plumber looked up and the King looked down to meet eye to eye.

Debrie, Lydia and Shigura were confused.

"I'd never think we would work again… Mario."

* * *

 _Afterword_

For those of you who continued from the previous chapter, Welcome Back.

This is Iwatome Toshiki

I've finally reached the point of introducing Bowser into this story.

It took 10 Chapters, but he made it. Originally, I wasn't going to bring him in until much later into the story. I decided against it and thought that people would probably want to see more actual Mario characters than original characters I've made for this.

Ningyo Mekiki. Did you know his given name, Ningyo, is "Puppet" in Japanese? Considering his type of ability, I thought it was perfect. Hm… But I don't remember where or how I got Mekiki…

I will stop typing for now. Please open the next chapter when it releases.

Hm… I guess I should work on that one Inducer finally…

– _Iwatome Toshiki 俊樹岩止_


	11. Chapter 11

_Super Mario and Characters ©︎ Nintendo. Only the Original Characters are my own._

* * *

 _ **Chapter 11**_

 **Prologue**

"I see… So very intriguing…"

This "room" had nothing.

No television. No tables. No chairs. Nothing.

In a way, it was referred to as the " _World of Emptiness_."

It was all black that you couldn't tell what was a wall and what wasn't. Out of world markings spread throughout the room.

The one from earlier that had spoken led out a slight smirk. They were in a wheelchair. If one were to look at them, they wouldn't know if he was from this world, Esalen, or from a completely different planet or dimension like Vanda.

This… man, was almost completely covered with black, could it be a robe? Or not? Dark turquoise markings spread all over his body except his hair, left side of the face and right foot. A regular turquoise colored glow would flow across his body with the help of the markings. Usually starting from the top, sometimes the bottom.

"So _they_ have the potential…"

A weird ribbon-like object protruded from his left arm, it was all metal, but with the same characteristics as his body. It stayed in place, but spiraled upwards and then around him.

His hair was dead-gray, the type of gray that belonged to most grandparents that were about to be deceased.

The right side of his face was like the rest of the body. Where his right eye is supposed to be, a turquoise marking in the shape of an eye took the place of it. It couldn't close, nor did it have a pupil.

"Indeed, Alphrodius."

Another voice. It didn't belong to Alphrodius, the name of the mysterious man with strange markings.

There was nobody else in the room. However, it seemed the voice came from the ribbon-like object.

"You think we should?"

It spoke. Alphrodius chuckles lightly.

"No, not yet, my friend. Let's wait… a little while longer."

* * *

 **Amidst The Action I**

A door opened. At the same time, a sound of someone swimming was heard.

There was a large box compartment made by strong glass. It reached all the way to the ceiling. Inside was, not water… It was a special type of liquid. Liqoire, it was called.

A girl with brown hair and short twintails had swam to the front of the compartment.

"Ah, you're home!"

She said. When the door opened, a short girl entered the room and ran to the compartment. A man with long black hair in a suit entered afterwards and closed the door.

"Glad to see you took care of the house while we were gone."

The voice belonged to Yatsu Monogari. The first Rank 8 Inducer.

The girl who had ran up to the compartment was his daughter, Maria Monogari. She also placed her hands on the glass, so did the girl swimming inside while letting out a smile.

"Why wouldn't I?"

The girl replied.

"Well, I still need to give you some adjustments. You don't have any weapons and such."

"I'm still surprised you managed to make this liquid. It lets me talk without the actual water interrupting."

"Maybe your body has gotten used to it, Audria."

Yatsu headed to the table and set down the food from the convenience store.

The girl in the compartment filled with the new liquid was apparently named Audria. Aside from brown hair with short twintails, she wore a light blue shirt with four lines across the chest area and also on the sleeves. A black skirt with shorts underneath alongside white shoes with black shoelaces.

It wasn't just her inside. She had her own couch, television, phone, bookshelf, etc. All waterproof thanks to Yatsu.

"I'll be heading out again soon."

Yatsu said. The two girls looked at him before Audria spoke.

"Again? But you just came home, Yatsu…"

"It won't be something big-"

"You always say that!"

Audria exclaimed. Yatsu just stood there and let out a sigh. His daughter came up to him and then looked back to Audria.

"It's ok, Audrey… Daddy always comes back!"

Maria let out a smile. Audria sighs. Why was she always worried about Yatsu's safety? He's a Rank 8! She shouldn't be worried.

"I'll be staying for a few and then I'll-"

He was interrupted by Maria who tightened her grip on his pants.

"... and then _we'll_ leave."

"Alright…"

The trio decided to eat. Maria and Audria would be the ones talking while Yatsu stayed silent.

"Two years…"

He said. Audria heard this, told Maria to wait and swam closer to where the table was.

"What is it, Yatsu?"

Yatsu turns to her and then to the ceiling.

"... Two years since my wife disappeared. To this day I still don't know what happened."

This was the first time Audria heard of this. She looked down and then to the side. She felt guilty about reminding him.

"I will find her. I will not let Maria grow up without a mother."

Yatsu's hand turned into a fist and shook. A crack on the table formed. Before he almost broke it, he sighed and stood up.

"You leaving?"

"Yes."

Audria looked down again. Yatsu placed his hand on the glass.

"We'll be fine."

Audria placed her hand on the glass as well. On the same place Yatsu placed his.

"Maria."

The young girl looked to him, stood up and ran to her father. He took hold of her small hand and walked towards the door.

"Be careful you two…"

Maria waved before the door to the home opened and then closed. Audria shook her head, swam to the waterproof computer and started typing. If the reason Yatsu keeps leaving is to find his wife, she felt like she needed to help him. Especially since _he_ helped _her_. Yatsu's the reason why she's still alive.

* * *

 **Part I**

The Red Plumber, Mario.

The King of the Koopas, Bowser.

They both stood just a few meters from each other.

"Didn't think this would happen again."

The sentence came from Bowser's mouth. The turtle had his arms folded and glared at the plumber.

"Me neither, but I guess-a there's no choice."

The plumber responded. Debrie, Lydia and Shigra looked in the confusion.

"No, there isn't."

The turtle let out a sigh. The two, while have worked together before, never felt comfortable doing so. They did share one thing in common.

Both despise Dimentio. Bowser decided to take them to his own room. Inside was a large red bed, like ones you see in a Royal Castle. Decorated with paintings of his children and himself. Here, they started speaking… But...

"Before we begin… Just one question, who are these people?!"

Bowser unfolded his arms and pointed at the three females. They all stood still until Debrie spoke.

"So, you're Bowser."

"Yeah! What? Haven't you heard of me?!"

"Oh I have. You're the _Third_ Hero of Light."

Indeed he was. In the Light Prognosticus, there are four heroes mentioned. One is described as a turtle. Due to the previous adventure, it was obvious that it was Bowser.

"Hero… Of Light?"

Lydia says dumbfounded. Debrie took a deep breath. The rest looked at her in order to listen to what she was going to say.

"As inscribed in the Light Prognosticus, the Heroes of Light are legendary beings. These people have the power to destroy Chaos and stop it from spreading throughout, not only Esalen, but the universe. I've added more info to the Light Prognosticus in me. As before, there are Four Heroes."

The girl in robes looked at Mario.

"Mario. _The Protector of the Light Prognosticus_. The first hero."

She turned to Bowser.

"Bowser. _The One with Utmost Strength_. The third hero."

Shigura cocked her head to one side.

"What about the second and fourth?"

Debrie continued while bringing her right index finger to her chin. She started with Mario and Bowser as they were the ones in front of her.

"The Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. Princess Peach Toadstool. _The One who can Wipe Tears_."

"The Brother of Mario. Luigi. _Assistant of the Light Prognosticus_."

Bowser smiled, but only because he was proud of himself and was in an actual book. Mario could only sigh at Bowser's narcissistic attitude.

Lydia and Shigura still didn't understand much, but they did got the gist of it.

"Now, about-a why we're here,"

"It's about that guy right?"

Spoke Bowser, his arms crossed.

"Dimentio."

"You're looking for the pages right?"

"Yeah."

"And you want _my_ help."

"Y… Yeah… You do realize that our planet's at stake right? We can't really beat Dimentio with a few of us."

Mario responded. Indeed, in order for Peace to take over Chaos, all the Heroes of Light should be there.

"You say that, but when we "defeated" that guy, he still came back."

Bowser replies with a very good point. That's one thing no one understood. They know why he came back, but the question on the minds of everybody was exactly how he came back. They weren't getting the bigger picture here.

"..."

The room fell silent.

"In order to catch you up, let me tell you what's been going on,"

The plumber broke the silence.

"So far we have Debrie here who has the Light Prognosticus embedded in her. Lydia has a bit of the Dark Prognosticus. And we've only found less than 10 pages of the Dark Prognosticus. The book was obliterated after Dimentio was "defeated" and thus all its pages spread across the world."

"So basically what you're saying is that we have to be lucky just to even find them."

Mario nodded before he continued.

"If only we had some way to make it easier for us to find them…"

Bowser looked at Lydia.

"Why can't she find detect them?"

With that question, came Debrie's answer.

"I don't think that's how it works. Let's just say the same thing happened to me. I won't be able to detect a page. They have the _same aura_ , but they can't find each other. That's as far as I know."

"Argh… Well, as far as _I_ know, there hasn't been pages of that book here in my kingdom… But I'll make sure to look around."

Bowser responded, working _again_ with Mario didn't sit well with him. It never has. Same could be said for Mario.

"I'll let this slide. But after all this-"

"I know-a."

"... What have the other two said?"

Bowser questioned. He was referring to Luigi and Princess Peach.

"Nothing. We'll be talking with those two as well… However…"

Luigi came to mind. Last time, he was practically used by Dimentio and changed him into Mr. L.

"..."

He was stuck on that thought. He did say that all Heroes are needed, but… He didn't want that to happen to his brother again.

"Lord Bowser!"

A Hammer Bro. rushed into the room. Bowser stomped his foot.

"What is it?! Can't you see we're talking here?!"

"Eep! W-well… You need to take a look at the news right now…"

"I don't have time for stupid TV News right now!"

Bowser stomped his foot again. Lydia sighed and used her powers to snatch the remote from the table across the room. She pressed the power button and the television screen on the right wall of Bowser's room turned on.

"–The Mushroom Kingdom Castle has entered a Lock-Down. Guards have surrounded the building to make sure no one leaves or enters."

An eagle's eye view was being shown, most likely from a camera attached to a helicopter.

Mario looked at Bowser.

"What?! I haven't even attacked your stupid kingdom in months! Don't look at me!"

Mario clenched his teeth and fist. Leaving the room and shoving the Hammer Bro. aside.

"Ma-Mario! Wait!"

Debrie ran after him. Lydia and Shigura followes.

Bowser watched them all run off before sighing. Still… Even he wondered what was going on.

Debrie and the other girls caught up with Mario, trying to head back to the Mushroom Kingdom.

"W-wait for… Us…!"

They began panting because of the extensive running. All except for Shigura. Lydia looked at the robot and rolled her eyes.

"You act so human-like I keep forgetting you're a robot."

"Taking that as a compliment, Lydia."

Shigura responded with a smile. Of course she wouldn't get tired of running, she's a machine; Mario frowned.

"S-sorry…"

"No, it's fine, Mario."

The group stopped. After regaining much needed energy, they continued, this time Mario keeping his speed at a minimum.

"So… Do you know the Princess?"

Debrie asked the plumber in red. He nodded.

"For a while actually… Always bakes me cake when I visit her haha."

Lydia heard this and frowned a bit. Shigura looked back at Lydia.

"Something wrong Lydia?"

"... H-Huh? Oh, it's nothing!"

She responded. The topic ended like that, really abruptly.

Mario, Debrie, Lydia and Shigura enter a pipe leading from the Koopa Kingdom back to the Mushroom Kingdom. Upon returning, the entire streets were filled with people. It was so crowded, some stores were so hidden.

"…We won't be able to get to the Castle if these crowds get larger…"

It's been like this ever since the news broke to the public, many stayed in Mushroom Square to see the news on the big screen in Mushroom City's. Of course, people were afraid, they don't know what was going to happen with the ruler. Shigura widened her eyes and scanned the area before narrowing their options.

Lydia cracked her knuckles and picked up Mario, Shigura picked up Debrie.

"We can make it if we use our skills."

Says Lydia.

"Thanks to this ability of mine. For Shigura, it's quite obvious."

Debrie looked around.

"W-Wait… What are you going to-"

Shigura ducked and then quickly jumped into the air. The ground in which Shigura stood on was destroyed, dust particles

"Waaah!"

Lydia and Mario looked at Shigura carrying Debrie, in awe of her skills. Lydia shook her head.

"Hang on, it's our turn!"

Lydia, with her ability, made what seemed to be a hookshot. She aimed at the top of a building and then flew over the people below. During all this, Mario hung on and saw Shigura super jumping, Debrie barely hanging on and screaming.

( _There goes my title of "Jumpman"..._ )

The plumber chuckles and sighs.

* * *

 **Part II**

"Is that so?"

The voice of a woman echoed throughout the room. She was blonde and wore a pink dress. The ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom—Princess 'Toadstool' Peach.

"Why of course~ Or, we could do it another way."

It was a voice that belonged to Yosuru. He had knocked out guards and infiltrated the castle.

Yosuru had no problem dealing with them as his Dark Prognosticus abilities were much stronger. Especially more than Lydia's. Add that to the fact that the guards weren't really… Well armed.

"..."

The Princess stood silently.

"What? Don't you want to work with the Dimension King himself?"

Peach was tired of hearing anything about Dimentio. Even if Mario were to tell her what was going on, she would already know because of the person that stood in front of her.

"If I refuse?"

"Oh hoho… Come on, don't be like that. If you comply to his accommodations, just think, your kingdom will become better for the people living in it! If you refuse, I'll just deal with the Council myself. Or do you want the council to decide?"

The Mushroom Kingdom Council.

Made up of 14 high ups that help the Princess deal with the Kingdom. It acts as a backup if something were to happen to the Princess herself. However, the Council is unique for making some… interesting decisions. Sometimes, even the Princess can't trust them. By technicality, the Council has more power.

( _... I can't let the Council make a decision… I need to keep them out of this situation…_ )

Peach didn't know what to do. Yosuru stood there smiling confidently, Black-Purple sparks appearing on his hands.

"What'll it be? I suggest making a decision right here, right now, Princess."

Toadstool didn't respond. There was no way out. If she said no, he would go to the council. If yes, then that's pretty self-explanatory on why that would be pretty bad. She kept her cool. Yosuru grew impatient and clicked his tongue, shooting a death glare to the leader of the Toads.

"Tch. You really are something huh… What a waste of precious time."

Peach wondered why he even threatened her. To be fair, she did intercept him from easily going and sneaking into the council.

"..."

More silence.

"Listen here, Princess-"

Crash!

A loud bang echoed throughout the room. Yosuru turned around, the entrance doorway to the room was forced open by none other than Mario and his female allies along with some of the guards that had stood their ground.

Mario, Lydia and Debrie already knew their face.

"Y-You…!"

Yosuru sighed deeply.

"... Aaaaggh… damn it, I would've been able to go the council if it weren't for this Princess' interception."

"Mario!"

The princess immediately yelled towards Mario.

"Are you alright, Princess-a?!"

Toadstool nodded. Yosuru cracked his knuckles while Lydia formed a spear with her own abilities.

"I don't know what you're doing-a here, but if you're looking to capture the princess-a, then I dare you to try."

The man chuckled.

"Kidnapping isn't really my style, but I can resort to it if need be. What a shame, I was going to bring the princess to our side before you showed up."

"As if the Princess would even join Dimentio's side!"

Lydia exclaimed. Shigura aimed her fingers towards Yosuru, knowing he was a threat after taking into consideration the reactions of Mario, Lydia and Debrie.

"Hmm? Who's your new friend?"

"I'm Shigura… but don't try to change the subject at hand."

Yosuru smiled. Forming a hammer-like weapon with his powers.

"Guess we'll be doing this again, hu-"

Before he was able to even finish, Lydia threw her spear, distracting him. Mario quickly ran to the princess, picked her up and headed back to where his allies were.

"Keh…"

Mario set the princess down on the ground. He looked at the guards.

"Take her somewhere safe!"

The guards nodded.

"But Mario…!"

"We'll talk later-a… After we finish dealing with him."

He responded. The Princess followed the guards, closing the doors behind them. Yosuru scratches the back of his head before looking around, his hammer in hand.

"You really want to fight and possibly damage your ruler's castle huh?"

"Says you! You almost destroyed the room behind us!"

Debrie pointed and yelled at him.

"Doesn't matter now!"

Yosuru swayed his left arm from right to left quickly, a purple wave headed towards the group. Mario picked up Debrie and they all jumped out of the way of its vicinity. Debrie was let go, but before the true battle began, she casted a spell by saying sentences from the Light Prognosticus.

The spell had increased Mario, Lydia and Shigura's defense.

"I'll stay back and focus on support, Mario!"

Mario looked at her and nodded before turning back towards Yosuru. Yosuru jumped in the air and was ready to swing down his hammer. Shigura aimed and then fired bullets to his arms, causing him to lose his hammer and fall to the ground.

"Kh..! Damn it! You're a robot aren't you?!"

Smoke lifted from Shigura's fingers as she pointed them at Yosuru once more.

"You're outnumbered, three to one."

"Heh, guess I'm at a disadvantage since you have a robot on your side."

He says, blood from his arm slowly dripping to the floor before wiping it away. Creating a shield and a hammer, he threw his weapon towards the robot, only to be blocked by Lydia's own shield.

Clang!

Lydia got rid of her shield, formed a whip and aimed it at Yosuru. Their enemy blocked it with his shield. Lydia kept using her whip. Yosuru grew tired of it. During this time, the plumber in red had sped towards him with his metallic hammer. Mario jumped towards him and swung his hammer down on Yosuru's shield.

Cracks appeared on the shield before finally breaking. Yosuru immediately grabbed Mario and threw him towards the room's entrance doors. Lydia created a hand to stop Mario from crashing through the doors. The plumber landed on his feet before the hand disintegrated.

"Bwegh…!"

Yosuru coughed blood, confusing everybody. He chuckled and looked at his hand.

"Well this is concerning… Boss is really sending me mixed signals…"

He cleaned the blood coming from his mouth. He staggered more. Creating another weapon, he coughed more, causing the weapon to disintegrate.

"N-No…! What the hell?! Why am I at my limit?! I didn't use it mu-"

Lydia ran to him, surrounding her fist with black-purple aura before aiming an uppercut, Yosuru landed on his back.

He laid still for a moment before opening his eyes. The blood on his hands still hadn't dried up. As he was about to get back up on his feet, Lydia grabbed him by the collar.

"What exactly are you here for?"

She asked. Yosuru coughed and grinned.

"What does it matter to you, traitor."

"Call me that all you want, I'm glad I escaped your boss's grasp."

"Tch… Don't you think it's kinda sad? Maybe underwhelming and anticlimactic that our fight only lasted for less than ten minutes?"

"Don't. Change the subject."

Mario, Shigura and Debrie walked to the two, the plumber resting his hammer over the shoulder and the female robot lowering her arms.

"I'm glad it was short, because now we can finally talk-a. You said something about the council. What of it?"

The red plumber questioned.

"... I could say something, but that would mean going against the rules given to me by the boss."

"Let-a me remind you that it doesn't matter what happens, your boss will still be somewhat discouraged from your loss-a."

"..."

He still wouldn't talk. He coughed even more, it was as if he was about to faint.

"Guess he's reaching his so called 'limit.'"

She says. Closing in on his face, Lydia glared at him.

"Send our regards to Dimentio."

Lydia opened the large windows and flinged him with the use of her powers. So far they couldn't even see him. Cleaning her hands from his blood that dripped onto her, she sighed.

"We could've talked more, but… I guess he wasn't going to budge anyways… we could've at least taken him to the authorities."

Spoke Debrie, Shigura shook her head in disagreement. Lydia inclined to disagree too.

"What's the point of a cell. His powers are the same as Lydia's, so a jail cell wouldn't do much."

"Right... Still… I question his so called 'Limit'… like… Of his powers?"

"Most likely," Replied Lydia, "That's strange though. If it's because of his powers, then that means I would have a limit too, but so far I haven't noticed or felt a single change within me."

"Maybe it has-a something to do with the fact that he has more of the Dark Prognosticus in him-a? Like, the more of it you have, the lower your limit, which also could-a mean that you would have to use it less and not so excessively-a… A win-risk situation-a…"

The plumber placed a finger on his chin, thinking about it. Lydia shrugged.

"Could be. Right now, I think we should worry more about what he came here to do."

"Let's check on-a the princess. She talked with him, so maybe she knows something-a."

The entire group nods and leaves the room. Shigura turns around, walks to the large windows and closes them before heading out herself. The castle was almost obliterated, there were scratches all over the walls and the carpet was ripped into pieces. The rest of the group were lucky that Mario was even allowed inside by the guards due to having a history with the kingdom, if he hadn't, they wouldn't've had made it through the big crowd and news reporters asking for updates.

Among the large crowd in front of the castle, there was a man in a green shirt and blue overalls.

"E-Excuse me, coming through-a!"

It took forever for him, Luigi, to make it through. He would've gone the long way around, but people flooded every single inch of the castle.

"( _Ok so the people gather here when the Princess is in danger right now, but-a don't many times-a before…_ )"

It was true. Every time the castle was invaded, people didn't really flood the castle to at least check what was going on. This time, it's a whole different story.

"Eh!"

The Green Plumber continues going through the crowd until he was stopped by a bunch of reporters.

The guards were doing alright in keeping them back. One of them saw the plumber in green and told the reporters to move or else he'd use force to do so. Some moved, others didn't, either way, Luigi had enough room to fit through.

"Nice to see you here, Luigi, a good sight for sore eyes…!"

"Where's the princess-a?"

"She's inside! We can handle things here… I hope."

Luigi nods and rushes into the castle.

"By Shrooms… We need the Princess right now to calm all these people down so they could leave…"

The castle guard mumbles to himself.

The green plumber had seen the destruction from the earlier battle. Getting worried, he looked around and entered each door trying to find the Princess' whereabouts. Concurrently, Mario and his group caught up with Peach and her guards.

"Princess-a!"

"Mario! I'm happy to see you're still doing alright. Your friends too!"

"Tell-a me about it. You've never seen that type of person before… Maybe. At least-a I hope not."

He replied. Before going further, Mario introduced the princess to the other three female allies.

"Princess. We need to talk about that-a guy."

Just in case, Peach signaled the officers to lock the entrance doors to the room.

"Please, have a seat. Too bad I don't have anything to make tea in this room…"

Debrie shook her head.

"No, no, your highness, it's alright."

Lydia began after Debrie's response.

"What exactly did he want from you, Princess?"

The princess sighed before she began.

"It's the same old. He wanted me to sign on to his obviously disgusting plan. No way am I being forced to fight alongside with that Jester."

Mario placed a finger on his chin, so Yosuru really did mention Dimentio's return…

"I guess I don't-a have to mention Dimentio since you already know of it-a."

The Princess nodded.

"But you know… Out of all the previous incidents… I've never seen or faced anyone up close like him."

"You were the same way when-a Inducers came into the scene, Peach-a."

"Fair enough. Making new laws for them… I hope they're good enough to stop them from rampaging through the streets. However, getting back on track, all he really said is to join forces."

"So much for not talking about Dimentio… Your majesty—"

Lydia got cut off by the princess herself.

"Peach. You don't have to be so formal, especially when you're good friends with Mario."

"Uh… Peach… When that guy crashed through here, did he mention anything at all about the Dark Prognosticus? I'm just assuming he threatened you with his powers so he must've told you about it…"

Peach shook her head. She knew about the Dark Prognosticus itself, but didn't know all the current details.

"What does the Dark Prognosticus have to do with this?"

"Well… That's exactly where his power came from. Some of the book's text was embedded into him, that's why he has those weird powers…"

Lydia raised her hands and looked at them for a bit, almost smiling.

"It's the same for me…"

Black and purple aura spawned in between her hands before stopping it willingly.

"Not only that, but the Dark Prognosticus… What was it, again?"

Lydia looked at Mario and Debrie.

"Turns out the book was almost obliterated after we defeated him those years ago. Only the pages were kept in tacked, they just spread around the planet."

Debrie began.

"Lydia here has only… Four pages from it in her. Compared to Yosuru, who, with that amount of power, has… I'd say a fair range between sixteen and twenty."

"Th-That much?"

Peach was shocked, she became cautious of Lydia once she said she was similar to Yosuru. The Princess took a deep breath and let it go, if she's an ally of the plumber, then she can trust her, right?

Shigura had been looking around the room, in awe of its design, the windows were stained with beautiful colors that formed a shape of Peach. Whenever the sun's light shined through, the light would change colors as it hit the room's floor. The female android had also been taking in everything the rest were saying, it was pretty useful information to keep herself up to date with the events.

The princess had already noticed the markings on Debrie's robe and hands, as well as the stars in her eyes. That was the next topic.

"What's with those markings, Debrie?"

The girl looked at her robe and hands.

"These markings are from the Light Prognosticus. I'm… Pretty much a walking book ahaha…"

The girl chuckled a bit.

"My father was… Actually one of the ancients. He took ahold of the book after Dimentio's defeat and… Well… He embedded the entire thing in me to keep it safe, our village was attacked by a…"

She looked at Lydia, the woman crosses her arms.

"Nearly controlled Lydia. After that, she was able to master and control her powers. It happened recently and… I haven't seen him since then…"

Debrie looked down, the princess first looked at the chestnut hair colored woman who had turned to the side. So that's it, Lydia was able to control her Dark Prognosticus powers. Peach smiled.

"All of us have gone through a lot. Maybe not as big of a level, but… Chin up, keep your posture straight and everything will be alright in no time!"

Peach placed her hands on her hips with a confident smile. Debrie could see now, why the princess was described as 'The one who wipes tears'. The girl smiles. It was definitely a lot for Peach to take in however. She was still curious about Shigura.

"What about you?"

"M-Me?"

Shigura turned around and looked at her in confusion. The princess nodded.

"I'd like to hear your story."

"... I was created by an organization here, they tried making me the strongest android with human-like emotions. I ran away… I was… Being abused by the people there, I can't remember much past before running away aside from them hurting me… It wasn't until Mario showed up and helped me, he took me to a scientist who ended up fixing me up."

Shigura smiled.

"It truly is still the best day I've ever experienced."

The mood lightened up. How coincidental it was that almost everyone Mario's come across had their lives changed in one way or another. But that's just how Mario is, he's never been one to leave someone behind.

"Oh my, I can't believe we went off track! First we were discussing Dimentio and then we went to talking about you three's backgrounds!"

The princess placed her hand a few centimeters away from her mouth.

"It was a good way to get rid of the Dimentio talk though." Lydia said.

 _SLAM!_

The door to the room was opened so harshly it could be compared to wood breaking.

"Princess-a!... Eh?"

It was the plumber in green. The four looked at him in surprise. Luigi looked at the door and then checked the wall, an indentation formed by the doorknob.

"Eh heh heh… Oops-a…"

Peach giggled and Mario raised a brow. Luigi took out a band-aid and placed it on the dent.

"There. Fixed-a!"

Luigi smiled before quickly turning around, closing the door and running towards the group, a sigh exiting his mouth.

"You're okay, Princess-a. I'm glad."

Luigi looked at Lydia, Debrie and Shigura.

"Who are you guys-a?"

Just like the princess, Mario introduced them to Luigi. Guards came into the room.

"Your majesty, we need you outside to show that you're alright! The crowds are getting too big!"

Peach nodded.

"This shouldn't take long."

The princess left the room with the guards, leaving the five inside. Luigi turned to Mario.

"So, what-a were you guys talking about-a?

Similar to Peach, Mario told him everything. Dimentio's return was surely a surprise to him and… became really afraid. He would never forget the time where he was brainwashed.

With a plant on his head no less.

It took awhile for the green plumber to digest all the info, especially Dimentio's return.

"You seem frightened, Luigi. You're even shaking."

Shigura stated. Luigi stopped trembling.

"W-Well, Dimentio b-brings-a back… a-a-awful memories-a…"

Shigura cocked her head to the side.

"What kind of memo-"

Lydia placed her hand on the female robot's shoulder to interrupt her.

"We're sorry to hear that, hopefully those memories leave soon… I mean, I guess they wouldn't after all these years, but anything can happen!"

Shigura looked at Lydia puzzled, obviously the woman tried to stop her from being rude to the green plumber by asking what bad memories he got.

"I'd-a also like to talk about-a the Dark Prognosticus itself. Let's wait for the princess to come back before continuing-a."

The rest of the group nodded.

* * *

 **Epilogue Part**

"What a crowd…"

Kurushima mumbles to himself, watching as the people run forward crowding the streets. The news of the invasion of the castle had already been made public.

"Coming to you live from outside the Princess' Castle, we-"

The voice came from the big screen in Mushroom Square. It's always a big deal when the princess gets captured… sometimes. Most of the time not really, which gets Kurushima to question if the citizens even care about the princess or not.

The Rank 7 sighed before turning around and going the opposite way, taking his phone from his pocket in the process. While going through his texts, he heard a faint scream. He cocked his head to the side.

"..."

The screaming continued. Kurushima placed the phone back in his pocket. It definitely sounded like a young girl, something was up. The Inducer followed the screams, which started to slow down as he closed in. It all led him to a certain building.

Looking up, Kurushima mumbled:

"... _Mushroom City Municipal Hospital_ …"

* * *

Hello one and all, it's-a me!

Been awhile eh? Sorry this Chapter took soooo long since… February… Anyways! I should be able to get back up to speed as I'll finally have time to continue! I can't apologize enough for the wait

It's a short afterword, buuuut it's good enough. Thanks for reading Chapter 11! Chapter 12 is in the works right now!

Hm… Wondering how'll the Rank 7 Inducer will handle it…

- _岩止 俊樹 (Iwatome Toshiki)_


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